Pop Quiz: The Space Shuttle

Baring trouble with the weather, the last NASA space shuttle will launch on Friday.

I don’t know about you, but when I was young, the space program was what initially got me interested in science. It has everything! Danger, adventure, beauty, possible aliens. Honestly, what’s not to love? And space gets more wonderful and bizarre the more we learn. The idea that we as a species have advanced far enough to escape the pull of the Earth is exciting and mind-boggling even today. I know intellectually that we will still travel to space and still study it from home, but I can’t help but feel a significant loss, like a piece of my childhood that I enjoyed will not be available to new generations.

How do you feel about the ultimate space shuttle launch and the end of American human space flight? Are you nostalgic for the past, or is it time to move on? Did you ever want to be an astronaut? Where do you think the next great innovation in space travel will originate, the private sector, the public sector, or a combination of the two?

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