Godspeed, Shuttle Program

With the launch of the Atlantis today, mankind saw its last scheduled blast into the stars, but by no means will this be the last time we reach to touch the face of God. Much has been made about the end of the space shuttle marking the end of an era for manned spaceflight, but it should be remembered this is the end of an era for a vehicle, not for trips to the stars.

"On the shoulders of the space shuttle, America shall continue the dream."

I don't know who it was who uttered those words as the shuttle lifted off the pad today, but they are words which must be remembered.

Those living in Cocoa Beach are understandably distraught and concerned about the future. The Obama haters are ironically quick to scream about how evil it is to end this long-running government program. (One wonders if he was expanding the shuttle program if they would call it socialism) Many people in the of Florida are feeling the sadness of knowing the orbiter is making its final runs around the Earth, and I too am a bit sad knowing there will never again be shuttle sent into space that looks like the toy vehicle I used to fly around on my ceiling fan in my room.

But what people who believe in spaceflight should be doing now is looking forward to the bright future. Space travel is about advancement, and the end of the space shuttle only bears this type of finality because the Constellation program is not as far along as we would hope. As I have noted before, there are also great opportunities which exist now with private spaceflight.

The shuttle was never going to take us to Mars, or even back to the moon. When we dream of a future where man lives in space, it is necessarily one where the shuttle is a museum piece, technology long surpassed by the next better rocket.

Continue to dream. Today is just the beginning.