U.S. human spaceflight dead? Hardly!

Once again a space shuttle orbiter was on the move this past week as Enterprise was flown to New York City, and thousands of people waved, cheered and generally went crazy with excitement. And – like they did when Discovery was flown to the nation’s capital – news reporters, columnists, bloggers and tweeters bemoaned the end of our space program that this ferry flight supposedly symbolized.
A typical example of the kinds of things being said could be found in a New York Daily News column, which started off celebrating with great fanfare the arrival of Enterprise and the significant contributions of our entire Space Shuttle program. But then, it seems inevitably, the picture turned dark.
Here’s the part that raised my blood pressure:
“Even when they came to seem routine, each mission was a great feat. So much wonder. No wonder kids dreamed of suiting up in bright orange jumpsuits, complete with NASA patch — a dream that, sad truth be told, is likely to fade as the government shelves its manned space flight program. No more trips to the moon or on to Mars, not for generations. Now the work will be done by private risk takers and ...