[LenS]

So we couldn't send up anymore fuel on a Soyuz? Or equipment for an EVA? Is the air-lock portable enough to be sent up separately? If the Shuttle was too heavy on this trip, then it must have had a lot of cargo that could have been dumped. Or are all those silly school kid experiments too valuable to dump?

The truth is that the Space Station and the Shuttle are just massive job producers. They're doing very little of real importance. It's time to close down NASA and put the Air Force in charge.

[TominPA]

"If the Shuttle was too heavy on this trip, then it must have had a lot of cargo that could have been dumped..

The Columbia NEVER went to the ISS. It was the oldest and the heaviest of the shuttles, as a result it couldn't reach the required orbit to rendeavous with the ISS. That simply wasn't an option that was available. You can't change the rules of physics.

[TheBattman]

The exact same thoughts have gone through my mind over the years (exept the Air Force bit).

There is no way NASA can charge enought $$ to even partially recoup mission costs when they do any sort of experiment/launch a satelite/etc. It's so much cheaper to launch satelites with a "standard" rocket, either domestic or foreign.

Without a clear-cut mission or goal to achieve, why are we still launching these multi-billion dollar machines to do piddly experiments? I can sort of see the missions a few years back to repair/maintain the Hubble telescope.

Maybe I am missing something here...but I can think of a lot more urgent uses for our tax dollars (including lower taxes). Someone here have a more insightful view on the subject?