Contributed by: filbert Wednesday, August 03 2005 @ 07:57 AM CST
Shuttle repair spacewalk is successful[*1] .
Miami Herald says it’s time to retire the Shuttle[*2] .
Discovery’s current flight is the 114th of the shuttle program, which launched its first flight in 1981. That’s an average of fewer than five flights a year for a program that, when first proposed, was said by NASA to be capable of 60 missions a year. Despite the heartbreaking Challenger and Columbia accidents, the overall record is one of undoubted success. But now that the fleet has been grounded while a shuttle is still in space, it’s time to face reality.
I agree. NASA has been derelict in not developing a follow-on vehicle for the 1970’s vintage Space Transportation System.