Mixed media: Off the planet

DITCH THE SHUTTLE

From Miami: No one who supports this country's heroic space programme can feel good about taking this painful step, but it's time to concede that these relics of an earlier age of space exploration must be retired ... Grounding the fleet, whose main purpose is to support the International Space Station, will allow Nasa to devote all its energies - and funds - to the next generation of space vehicles. That's where the future lies. - Miami Herald

Australian writer: Perhaps the line should have been drawn for the space shuttle when Nasa scientists were forced to trawl online auction websites for replacement computer parts that were outdated by the end of the 1970s. Conceived with decades-old technology, the space shuttle, which first flew in 1981 and is at more than twice its intended design life, is as state-of-the-art as a Holden Kingswood. - Robert Lusetich, The Australian

Albuquerque view: The familiar shuttle, frankly, is a cumbersome, piecemeal, costly, complicated, time-consuming, inefficient and probably unnecessarily hazardous way to get people and cargo - including military payloads and scientific instruments - into orbit. And on top of all that, orbit is its limit. Discovery's mission represents a good opportunity for the country to begin to come to grips with the often-asked question: why are we - that is, human beings - in space? And perhaps the nation can address some others: what's the point of our space programme? Is it worth the cost? Couldn't we just use sophisticated robots? Isn't there a better mode than the shuttle - perhaps a space plane, something more like a Boeing 747, something less than a thundering, gyrating, belching rocket? - Albuquerque Tribune

From Canada: The aged shuttles (Discovery is 21 years old) are already at more than twice their intended design life. Particularly galling is the shuttles' chief remaining mission, servicing the International Space Station. The station, once intended as a platform for planetary exploration, is now only a floating laboratory for mostly trivial scientific experiments. It is uncertain what will happen to the one American and one Russian left aboard the station. The pair should return to Earth with Discovery, as long as it is determined to be safe. That should be the end of it, except for planning the space station's ultimate, flaming descent in the safest possible way. - Toronto Star

KEEP FLYING

Texan view: Many still ask if this is the right thing to do with the nation's "right stuff". The truth is that our world has changed because of our space programme. Technology knowledge has exploded in the wake of the old "moon race" and more exciting discoveries await us, both in this world and out of it. Should America return to space? We feel we really have no other choice. - Midland Reporter-Telegram

Alabama opinion: At stake is the reputation of the United States as a world leader in technology. China may make a lot of what we buy at the store, but China can't put seven human beings in orbit on the same spacecraft and return them safely to Earth. And it won't be able to do that for years, if ever. Although the shuttle is an ageing programme, its importance can't be overstated. - Huntsville Times

From Vermont: Come what may, we must remember that we humans are a curious lot, and as long as this dark frontier remains above us, there will always be those willing to step forward and explore it. Bound to the ground though we are, the dream will always be to take flight. - The County Courier

Blogger: Although it would seem that the shuttle programme has outlived any practical usefulness, it was important psychologically to spring back from the Columbia disaster by making another shuttle flight. This is certainly an auspicious day for Nasa, and it is important to maintain momentum on the manned space flight programme in preparation for the introduction of the new, and hopefully more efficient, space transport vehicles. - Leoniceno, posted on blogcritics.org