Well, in some ways I’m glad that I was driving through Big Sur yesterday, instead of listening to the always-ignorant reporting on the latest space disaster. It probably saved my television screen. This morning, I wanted to throw something at Stephanopoulous, when he twice asked the idiotarian question, “is it time to retire the Shuttle and just let the robots do it?”

Do what, George? Do WHAT?

What are we trying to accomplish in space? That is the question that is never asked, and it’s the most important one. Everyone simply assumes that they know the answer, and that everyone else knows the answer as well, and that we are all in agreement–we know what we want to do in space (science and research) and the only question is whether it should be done with humans or robots.

If we finally, this time, get a serious discussion going about space policy in this country, for the first time in over forty years, then the loss of Columbia will be worth it, but based on what I’m already hearing from the idiot box, the prospects seem slim.