Shuttled Away

In September 2010 NASA’s Space Shuttle Program will be closing down, and its three remaining ships put to rest. The maiden launch of Columbia in 1981 brought fame to the shuttles as being the first re-usable space vehicles. Since, we’ve seen two tragic missions when in 1986 Challenger exploded soon after launching, and again in 2003 when Columbia was destroyed upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. 14 astronauts lost their lives in the two missions combined, and NASA has now decided to scrap the program so they could focus on the construction of the International Space Station.

The three remaining ships, Endeavor, Atlantis, and Discovery, have been successful in 85 missions so far, and will have upped the tally to 95 by the closing of the program. With the final mission scheduled for launch in May 2010, Endeavor will be headlining as it will take critical supplies to the International Space Station before passing off the wand to their successor-ships in the Constellation Program, including Orion and Ares.

To many of us, the program’s initial launching of Columbia was as awe-inspiring as Neil Armstrong’s ”giant leap for mankind” was to our parents, and watching them retire will most likely produce some sentiment similar to what my father felt toward the death of the Studebaker. 

“Floodlit in the hazy distance
The star of this unearthly show
Venting vapours, like the breath
Of a sleeping white dragon”
- Neil Peart