End of a (Space) Era

The Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off this morning, marking the final launch of a shuttle before the retirement of the program.

On the one hand, I have no problem with the idea of retiring the Space Shuttle itself. It's a 30 year old method of launching people into space -- older by a good margin than the entire history of manned space flight prior to its creation. If you own a game console, it's more powerful (by a lot) than the computer in the shuttle. Granted, the shuttle isn't prone to the "Red Ring of Death," and there's a lot to be said for that. Still, it seems a little crazy to me that the crew of a shuttle mission has to load separate programs for launch, orbit, landing, and other such tasks one at a time, because the system can't hold any more. I got rid of my TI-99/4A ages ago, and it feels to me like it's long past time for NASA to do the same.

That said, it's sad that there's nothing waiting in the wings to immediately replace the Space Shuttle as our vehicle to the stars. It seems most people see no value in space flight, and that's both sad and ignorant. Even if you don't subscribe to the notion that exploring space has its own intrinsic value (and I do), the fact is that many inventions used every day here on Earth were first created for use in the space program. Scratch-resistant lenses for your glasses, memory foam for your mattresses and pillows, ear thermometers for your infants, cushy insoles for your running shoes, cordless power tools for your garage, water filters for your faucets --- and for crying out loud, the entire modern concept of global telecommunications. All these things and more might not exist (or, at a minimum, would not be so advanced) if they hadn't been developed first for use in space flight.

And yet it's hard for me to get too indignant over the now-essentially-hibernating U.S. manned space program, when I'm truly honest about my own level of enthusiasm for it. I lovedlovedloved everything about space, space exploration, and space travel as a kid. I continued to be interested in it, even when it had become clear it was nothing like a career path for me. But I haven't actually watched a launch in well over a decade. Not even the final launch today.

For years, I've never really known at any given time whether a shuttle was in orbit or not. I haven't kept abreast of what the objectives of any given shuttle mission were. I haven't always been up to date about the latest discoveries from manned or unmanned space flights. And that's me! And I can still truthfully say that yes, I'm interested in this stuff! To lift a quote from the movie Apollo 13, "They said we make going to the moon about as exciting as a trip to Pittsburgh." If I apparently can't muster any real enthusiasm over space flight, how can I really blame the attitude of the average person who thinks space travel should be cancelled altogether to "focus on problems here on Earth?"

So, yeah... lots of thoughts and feelings about this inauspicious occasion. But one thing I know for sure. Here's hoping we're back in the manned space flight business (and not just hitchhiking on foreign launches) sooner rather than later.