The End of The Shuttle

I’m feeling depressed about the Endeavor’s final launch. After today, there is one more shuttle launch (Atlantis in June) and then it’s over. The shuttle program is done, there’s nothing to replace it, and it sucks.

Not that I still harbor hopes of being an astronaut or anything (although I would totally teach in a one room schoolhouse on the Moon). It just feels like we’ve given up as a people on ever being extraordinary again.

Granted, there is stuff going on. Congressman Bill Posey from Florida has introduced the Reasserting American Leadership in Space Act, which is a directive to not only return to the Moon by 2022, but also to establish a base there. In this economic environment, it probably has little chance of passing, but it’s nice to know someone is thinking of it.

There’s also the SpaceX guy who wants to send humans to live on Mars in 10 to 20 years, making SpaceX like – in his words – the shipping company that brought people from Europe to America or like the Union Pacific railroad. He’s stated that he wants to make life multi-planetary. That’s a plan I can get behind. It seems like it could be an equal-opportunity option for continuing space exploration.

But, I’m guessing the future of humans in space will look more like this: a space cruise around the Moon for $150 million.

Because why try to advance the species when space can just be an infinite amusement park for the super-rich?

Lisa Fary is a graduate of the creative writing program at Florida State University and holds an advanced degree in Special Education. Her earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She’s angry that it’s 2010 and she still doesn’t have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram.

Related Stuff: