Boy Joe, you sure stirred up us peasants with this topic. Now my bit of pontification. The end of the shuttle/ISS can't come soon enough for me. They've formed some sort of unhealthy co-dependent relationship. The shuttle survives because the ISS needs it. The ISS survives because of the shuttle. Neither one serves much other purpose. Together they have derailed the manned space program by completely removing exploration and innovation from the equation. This is why the robotic program has been so much more effective over the last couple of decades. Each exploratory robot has a new set of tasks, new technology and new constraints. Engineers and scientists must solve these problems by innovating. With each robotic mission, the bar moves up. The ISS was a fixer-upper as soon as it was launched. The shuttle goes a couple of hundred miles up, goes around for a while, then comes down. What does it explore? Imagine that you rub the magic lamp and ask for a career that lets you travel. A stroke of thunder and your wish is granted. You're now a bus driver. That's the space shuttle.