“and nothing that it accomplished couldn’t have been done more safely and cheaply with conventional launch platforms.”

Everyone keeps forgetting, that america didn’t want conventional platforms that were cheaper. They wanted dreams that seemed like they elevated the US space superiority.

No, that’s what happens when a government committee is elected by un-educated citizens, have to chose the worse decision in order to stay in office.

Where do you get this notion? If that was the case, we could have continued using the Saturn 5. Which had a flawless record. The design and engineering expenses were already spent too.

The space shuttle was never designed to leave earths orbit. It was never it’s purpose. Since day 1 it was built to be a mule to carry things to orbit, whether it be satellites or an ISS.
If we wanted to explore further, we wouldn’t have retired the Saturn 5. It was a beast that could easily explore beyond earth.

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