This is a sad day.  The final space shuttle flight launched today, but that's nothing to be disappointed about.  The shuttle marks 30 proud years -- out of a total of 50 years -- of manned space flight following the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions.  The sad part is that we have no manned program on the horizon to carry us forward. 

Nothing captures the excitement, enthusiasm, and imagination of the nation collectively as much as the idea of sending a person into space.  While politicians cite the cost of these programs, it's easy to forget the health benefits of giving the entire country something to rally behind.  The pioneering effort that NASA exhibited a few decades ago could only help boost the nation's morale which in turn might just help the economy.  I saw a statistic today that said the recent bank bailout exceeded the entire 50 year budget of NASA!  Imagine the places we could go if only the dedication and leadership existed to do it.

Hopefully America's return to manned space flight -- and the day will come -- will take us to new places we've never been.  Mars is always a popular option; and Jupiter's moon Europa is another good possibility.  Lately there's been talk about landing an unmanned craft on a comet, but that doesn't exactly give me goosebumps.  We need to start by returning to the moon for the first time since 1972, just to refresh our memory on how to land on something.  After that, it's time to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.