Farewell, Discovery!

I have avoided posting about things happening in the world, as the news has been mostly sad, weird, or simply puzzling as of late. Perhaps I will eventually post about the unrest in Wisconsin or the state of protesters in Libya, but right now I mean to call to mind the end of a once glorious and unparalleled age for the United States, as the last of the shuttles is retired with no replacement.

Shuttle Discovery is to be launched today (provided there is no unseen delay), on its last flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

Hopefully with the increase in space craft designed by privately owned companies, such as SpaceX, space travel will continue and even increase within the coming years. And in time, this type of space travel may dwarf the shuttles in comparison. But until then, a moment of recognition for the engineers and scientists who designed these shuttles, and the astronauts brave enough to fly in them (14 of whom never made it home), not to mention the countless others who worked behind the scenes, is never out of place.