I think it is appropriate today to bid farewell to NASA's shuttle program. After 30 years of ferrying Americans into space and expanding human horizons, the workhorses will be retired following the last trip of the Atlantis which blasted off today.
I lament the end of the shuttle program and what I can only hope will be a hiccup in - rather than a winding down of - our quest to explore space. It saddens me that we are now ceding this exploration to Russia and perhaps China, but again, I'm hopeful that human space exploration will again become a priority of the United States.
When I was younger I wanted to be an astronaut although now it seems like not pursuing that career may have been the right choice. However, the United States should always be the country at the forefront of space exploration, and as humanity looks towards a future (albeit very distant) among the stars, I sincerely hope that our politicians find it within them not to sacrifice science at the alter of austerity.
Good luck to the Atlantis on it's final mission and here's to hoping that US space travel is dormant only for a very brief period.
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