Some Thoughts on the Final Voyage of the Space Shuttle Discovery: Shuttle Program was a Failure in Reducing the Cost to goto Space

A few hours ago, the Space Shuttle Discovery launched for the final time. I have so many memories of the shuttle program, from the first time I saw the shuttle during a special news alert break in, piggybacked on a 747 sometime in the late 1970s, to when the Challenger exploded and my English teacher nearly sent me to the principal's office as if I played a cruel joke when I reported it to my class. There is something that I think Americans should learn about the shuttle program.



The idea of reusing a spacecraft over and over was sold by NASA with the promise of saving taxpayers millions of dollars. NASA failed in meeting its promise, and the shuttle program was costly in more ways than one. The shuttle never met its cost savings, which is often the case when the federal government starts making these promises. In fact, it was much costlier than they ever participated, and its safety record is shaky at best.

I want you to think about that. What other program has the federal government sold us on recently with the promise that it will save taxpayers money. How about Obamacare? Politicians love to sell us on this idea of cost savings, but they rarely happen as politicians often give kickbacks to their buddies back in the districts that ensure the federal government is always paying more than they need be. I suspect, since I don't believe Republicans will repeal Obamacare, and Obama obviously could care less a federal judge called in unconstitutional, that like the promise that was made with the shuttle program, Obamacare too will fail to live up the promises of it saving the taxpayers money. In ten years, providing a Washington politicians hasn't successfully silenced me, I will be writing the blog about another program that was set up with the promise to save tax dollars while comparing it to Obamacare, which obviously didn't.

Just like space exploration should be handed over to the free market to reduce costs, our health care system should be left to the free market and not handed over to the federal government with another promise that will soon be considered broken.