USA Space leadership over with shuttle retirement--NATIONAL SECURITY demands USA have own capability--"Ancient Shuttle " Is BS

(Moltz is a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and author of The Politics of Space Security – 2011 and Asia’s Space Race – 2012)
 
The US space shuttle is no longer in service, and it will likely be several years before the United States can resume independent human spaceflight. As a result, China’s upcoming Shenzhou IX mission to the Tiangong-1 space module will be viewed by some Americans with envy. Fortunately, as the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the commercial sector work to develop new boosters, US astronauts can still travel to the International Space Station aboard a Russian “taxi”, thus highlighting the value of international cooperation.
 
Mars mission remains the goal
 
Philadelphia Inquirer (Editorial)
 
It’s interesting that some of the same people who have been blasting President Obama as a spendthrift who has put this country on a path to economic ruin also criticize him for being frugal when it comes to space exploration. These critics decry Obama’s decision to retire the ancient space-shuttle fleet and instead have U.S. scientists hitch rides with the Russians to the International Space Station as being equivalent to sharing a bunk with Mephistopheles. But they mislead when they suggest that Obama has turned his back on manned spaceflight. Rather, the president’s proposed 2013 budget would keep the nation on track to fulfill the commitment Obama made to explore deep space.
 
The Legacy of the Space Shuttle
 
Richard Garriott – Huffington Post (Opinion)
 
As each remaining orbiter of the shuttle fleet takes their final flight to museums around the nation, it is a fitting time to reflect on the legacy of these iconic space vehicles. Citizens and visitors went outside in large numbers to watch the final flybys of these majestic birds that were the cornerstone of America’s human spaceflight activities for 30 years. An entire generation has grown up knowing the Space Shuttle as America’s only method of human access to space. Clearly this was an important passing, the end of an era. Many now believe that the end of the Shuttle era marks the end of U.S. leadership in human spaceflight.