Preston Louis Ursini

Thoughts on the end of the Shuttle Program



This is Space Shuttle Atlantis rolling out for the last time. This marks the end of America's Space Transportation System.

After this, America will no longer place in manned spaceflight. Once Atlantis returns from space, The Russian Federaion will be the Number One Manned Space Faring Nation, with the Peoples Republic of China placing Number Two.

This is not only symbolic of America's economic failure, but also symbolic of Earth's new superpowers.

Elon Musk is a member of the Y Generation, a South African-Canadian, and the founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors, and Space Exploration Technologies (Space X). He has, by his own means, and later through the support of NASA, developed the next generation of human spaceflight. After the American Government's failure to properly develop a space vehicle capable of human spaceflight, Musk saw opportunity.

Space X's new spaceship is due for it's first manned flight in 2014. This is not only symbolic of the power of American Entrepreneurship, but also of the power to overcome great obstacles in the worst of times. It is representative of the American Spirit that drives us to greatness in our times of darkness.

Much like human spaceflight, this new generation of American Entrepreneurs and Engineers are faced with uncertainty, times that are unbeknown to them, and sometimes unstable support from others.

One thing is for certain, and that is in times of the unknown, the Entrepreneurs of America march on. They march on without the support of others into the unknown. They march on until they achieve greatness.

It is for this that I see the last launch of our aging Space Shuttle Fleet as not a time of sorrow, but as a time of opportunity. I do not know that America will place as Number One once again in the business of human spaceflight, I do not know that Space X's exploration vehicle will be a success, but I do have one thing: faith. I have faith that the people who make up the United States will press on, and push hard until they achieve greatness, prosperity, and again the position of number one in the global arena.

Image Public Domain, Courtesy NASA.