I too was pleased to watch the lift off. Still, NASA should admit that this is less a triumphant flight of a phoenix and more a swan-song.

Despite all the efforts of the past 30 months and who knows how many millions of dollars spent to increase mission safety, in at most five years the shuttle will retire. It is expensive (the shuttle absorbs almost a third of NASA’s annual budget), doesn’t go anywhere other than low Earth orbit and must be recertified in 2010.

And yet the shuttle MUST fly. It is required to complete the international space station (ISS). Many of the station’s components were designed to be launched by the shuttle, and NASA has to take these to the station. For example, Japan’s experimental module is to be launched by the shuttle in return for Japanese construction of a centrifuge for the ISS.

One big question is how many more shuttle flights there will be. NASA once hoped for 27 more missions after this one. I’ve read recently as many as 20 flights. I, for one, hope these will include a mission to service the HST.

It sure was satisfying to watch.

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Eudaimonia