Backgrounder: Space shuttle Atlantis
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| U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-135) lands at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the United States, July 21, 2011. Atlantis landed safely at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday morning, completing its 13-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and the final flight of the Space Shuttle Program early Thursday morning. (Xinhua/NASA/Bill Ingalls) |
BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhua) -- As soon as Atlantis landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, America's space shuttles became a memory that will enjoy a large chapter in scientific history.
America's space program, loaded with success but troubled by financing shortages, has been relieved of its massive budget burden after the 30-year shuttle era came to a close with the Atlantis landing.
Indeed, the space shuttle program, denounced by some as a waste of talent and money, has cost about 200 billion U.S. dollars and along the way claimed the lives of 14 astronauts.
The shuttles, however, won accolades during their missions for having helped accomplish numerous feats of human expedition and discovery in outer space.
The shuttles became the embodiment of science and technology in the United States, yet many Americans are baffled as how to evaluate them.
The decision to discontinue the shuttle program, an outcome of the space race spawned during the Cold War era, was a well-thought-out choice made by the United States. The withdrawal allows for adjustments in America's space strategy.
It is worthwhile to end the shuttle program so as to finance and focus on the development of a new generation of spacecraft that President Barack Obama says will help land U.S. astronauts on an asteroid and then on to Mars.
Four additional reasons will further prove the wisdom behind America's decision to retire its space shuttles.
