Final flight of the space shuttle

2010 Not so long ago, space was the Wild West, the celestial frontier. It was conquered by a few brave pioneers who confronted the unknown, ascending into the heavens on fiery rockets and racing to the moon. This heroic era came to an end with the space shuttle. As sleek as a freight wagon, as futuristic as a washing machine, the shuttle was not exactly the stuff of Star Trek. Yet what it lacked in romance it would make up for in

day-to-day efficiency, or so we were told. The point of the shuttle was to be ordinary. It would make going to space routine. It didn’t quite work out that way. Going into space will always be risky and expensive – as two shuttle disasters made tragically clear. Nevertheless, 30 years on, the shuttle has fulfilled its appointed role. It has carried hundreds of people into orbit and transported several dozen tonnes of hardware

to build the International Space Station. And now it’s nearly over. As currently scheduled, the three surviving orbiters will each make their final flights in 2010. After Discovery’s wheels hit the runway next September they will head for museums. And there they will stay, to remind us – at least until the next phase of the US space programme is decided – that we once aspired to make space flight wonderfully and democratically mundane. IVAN SEMENIUK

JSC/NASA

FINAL FLIGHT OF THE SHUTTLE

16 | NewScientist | 19/26 December 2009 & 2 January 2010