[Physicist]

"Space exploration is all about man reaching for the stars."

That is very well said.

Indeed it is. The question, however, is whether the Shuttle constitutes an adequate reach.

[FITZ]

The question, however, is whether the Shuttle constitutes an adequate reach.

Including humans will limit the reach ----we should develop the robot technology.

[Sam Cree]

Well, I think I may agree that the shuttle's day is over, or nearly so. If I remember right, one of its goals was to have been relatively inexpensive, due to its reusability. I am fairly sure that it failed there at least.

[Sam Cree]

"The question, however, is whether the Shuttle constitutes an adequate reach."

I guess we'll need something other than chemical rockets at some point, to really explore space.

[Lancey Howard]

The question, however, is whether the Shuttle constitutes an adequate reach.

The shuttle's time is past, at least in its present design. It is time to move on and it is time for big government to adequately fund the next craft. But whatever the next phase in our exploration of space, it must involve sending people, not drones.

It is my opinion that big-time operations like the exploration of space and the planets is the one thing government should be involved in. Dump all the "social services" crap, abandon the socialist welfare state, get out of education, health care, and retirement programs, and fund NASA.

The shuttle was great for its time, though. I will never forget watching Crippen and Young take Columbia into space and then land it on an airstrip just like an airplane! This was after watching countless capsules parachute into the ocean. Of course, being born in the early '50s, I had the pleasure to watch our space program from its infancy, and I guess that gives me an appreciation that maybe younger folks don't have.

Regards,
LH