The famous theoretical physicist, Lawrence Krauss, writes in the UK Guardian today that space shuttles have been a colossal waste of American resources, time and creative energy. When I listened to him debate last week at TAM with Bill Nye and Neil deGrasse Tyson, he took the same line … and you know what … I tend to agree with him, I believe he is right.
Now please do not misunderstand me here, this stance does not in any way short change the courage and drive displayed by those brave individuals who have climbed on board and gone up. In fact when you consider the fact that these complex machines are constructed by assembling 2.5 million parts, each of which has been outsourced to the cheapest government contractor, then you would be utterly insane not to be highly nervous, and so yes, I applaud their courage.