Regarding the end of the Shuttle program, it remains obvious that they cannot continue to fly. As in all things, be they man or the machines we create, there comes a time to retire. Not to pass away never remembered, but simply to retire and recall the fruits of our labours and a life well lived. Passing away can come later once we are sure someone picked up that thing called the torch of our dreams, we won't matter anymore, we're dead, but the dream always will. So we retire the Shuttle program, we did that to Mercury, Gemini and Apollo too. Remember the X-15, or when Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier? We retired them all too, not with regrets but with the highest of honors we could accord them.
So, what next? Do we all sit back looking at the pictures and videos and dream of forgotten dreams? Remember the heritage that JFK started when he said we, in terms of all humanity (no offence meant to the US or NASA) :roll: :? , could land a man on the moon? What we have to do is get our governments to remember such dreams, such great men (leaders and visionaries perhaps???) and the heritage we inherited. Will we collectively let them forget all those men, all those who dreamed of a better world for all humanity, all those missions long before any of this internet started?
Let's go to the moon and establish bases. let's go to Mars, why not even to the stars? As Heinlein said "the earth is too fragile a handbasket to put all our eggs in" so let's get out of the farmyard. Anybody else grow up waiting for the next Heienlien or Clarke book to come out in softcover in the 60's? The way to end the wars is get over it, it's done, we have so much better things we could accomplish. Ranting a bit in a small mountain town with clear night skies, the stars are beautiful outside. Per Ardua Ad Astra.