Of the grocery list of things the Feds spend money on...space, technology, and the environment are the most important to me.
I have a strange thought when I see all three of these words together. The Feds crushing the enviroment to fuel more technology to get into space. That's about the usual way things happen.
Maybe I'm just a little jaded with space exploration. And the people who knowingly put themselves on the endangered species list when they strap themselves into the worlds most expensive explosive device (twisted visions of Dr. Strangelove). I can see there may be benefits to some experiments they perform in space. But when are the rewards gonna show up? 50 years after I'm dead? And will it be outdated and useless information at the time? Are the rewards truly going to be something applicable to the everyday lives of everyday people? I have to wonder...
So far the most useful thing the shuttle has done is put satellites into space so the USA can spy on everyone on the planet. I'd bet they can see the size of your shoe from the print left in the dirt. And maybe give the Hubble telescope an optical prescription, to look at things that are billions of years old. Ahh, that's great.
I know some may say, 'how do you know where you're going if you don't know where you've been'? What?? This planet hasn't even been fully explored without having to worry about space.
Fifteen years ago when the other shuttle blew apart, I was really upset about it. I mean, I had visions of good things coming from the work done up there as well. Fifteen years later there isn't much to show for it. Except a whole lotta money being shovelled, forgive the pun, into a black hole. Money that could be better spent somewhere else. Some possibilities have been covered in the above thread.
And, I'd like to add my condolences to the families of the crew. I wonder however, if they think it was worth the sacrifice for their loved ones to get the status of Hero?