Downfall of a Legend. BUT I WANT IT BACK

    On July 21 2011, the last generation US space shuttle The Endeavour accomplished its last mission and successfully land on the ground. This means that all the American space shuttle were retired at that point, the most advanced space craft come to a  downfall. So sad isn't it. How gorgeous are those space craft looks, how high tech they are, how capable they are in terms of doing the space exploration. But now, they are gone and disappear in a sudden.

US Space Shuttle Program

 First I want to mention some key history that is related on the NASA space shuttle:
        Between the first launch on April 12, 1981, and the final landing on July 21, 2011, NASA's space shuttle fleet -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour -- flew 135 missions, made a significant effort on constructing the International Space Station and space explorations. NASA's space shuttle fleet began setting records with its first launch on April 12, 1981 and continued to set high marks of achievement and endurance through 30 years of missions. Starting with Columbia and then Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, the spacecraft has carried people into orbit, launched, recovered and repaired satellites, conducted important space data and built the tremendous structure in space, the International Space Station. The final space shuttle mission, STS-135, ended July 21, 2011 when Atlantis rolled to a stop at its home port, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The US Space Shuttle -- Discovery

Gorgeous isn't it? 

    The space shuttle not only contributes the discovery of the space also pushed the bounds of discovery ever farther, requiring not only advanced technologies but a vast amount of human resource. Thousands of civil servants and contractors throughout NASA's field centers and across the nation have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to mission success and the greater goal of space exploration.

Yo, don't go away from your original topic please.... LOL

     Actually I am not, there is the back side of these tremendous effort that the space program that I just mentioned, it is high risk, human's life, ridiculous amount of capital resource mostly money, etc.

      In this case, the risk of this program is the biggest factor. Due to one of the concepts of the space shuttle which is reusable, however, every mission will make a significant damage on the spacecraft no matter the outer layer or the mechanical portion. Although the technical support team done a massive amount of work repairing it, it still become a extremely high risk action. Thus, two of the space shuttles out of five are explode during the missions and had capture fourteen life. It is extremely ridiculous from my perspective to continue the program just base on this piece of fact.  

                       

The explosion of the Columbia

     Moreover, the cost of this program make it unapproachable for the US，and more ridiculously, it is a contradiction of the whole purpose of the space shuttle program. The US made the reusable space shuttle to make the space exploration more efficient and cost less. But the outcome is opposite, due to that fact that such a space shuttle require high technology,  highly skilled back up technical support and expensive composite material as well, therefore, the program has over the planed budget nearly a few hundred time. Thus the US government has to consider to cancel the program.

     To sum up, me personally love space shuttle as well as the program base on the significant that they made which is unsurpassable by any country, the capability that they have and more and more. On the other hand, I feel sorry for those 14 individual who sacrificed for this gigantic program, they have made a remarkable contribution for the whole planet. However, I want these lovely and superb space shuttle back in the future, I hope when any of the country can be able to reach a certain level which minimizing the risk of space shuttle, they can come up with a space shuttle program and accelerate and pace of space exploration again.