Have to agree with you. Even though they got a lemon with the Space Shuttle (well they grew it themselves), they made some wonderful lemonade.

To write try to off the last 3 decades is just ridiculous!

Hubble alone has expanded our knowledge of the universe tremendously. They might have got it in orbit without the Space Shuttle, I can't say. They would never have been able to do the repairs and upgrades to it, without the Shuttle or something similar.

And how is this quote?

Griffin said, "My opinion is that it was. ... It was a design which was extremely aggressive and just barely possible."

Aggressive? As I've opined before, they basically took the most conservative elements from the competing designs for the Shuttle; and munged them together into that ugly thing we all love - the Space Shuttle.

I think this is just an excuse for more cuts at NASA.

PS: Notice that now it's "Back to the Moon" not "To the Moon and Mars", like it was last year?

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http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2005-09-27-nasa-griffin-interview_x.htm

The space shuttle and International Space Station — nearly the whole of the U.S. manned space program for the past three decades — were mistakes, NASA chief Michael Griffin said Tuesday.

a Mistake i dont think so

Space Shuttle Endeavour has flown 19 flights

Space Shuttle Discovery has flown 31 flights

Space Shuttle Atlantis has flown 26 flights

more Info

»http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Atlantis

over 76 flights

the only Prob is that at the Start somethink is not operate as is should be

not a big Prob i think...

Greetings from Germany NRW
Ulli