Space Flight

Unlike past program changes, when NASA's prime contractor either was already cutting metal on the next series or at least had plans underway, this time, there doesn't seem to be a single direction.

The good news, if there is anything, is that there are several proposals underway for manned spaceflight. The difference between private spaceflight projects and government spaceflight projects, though, is pretty thin. Both flavors are being funded by the government. The only difference is that with the private programs, they are keeping their cards very close to the vest and We Who Are Footing the Bill have not much of an idea what is going on.

This article seems to do a decent job of summing things up.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The cancellation of the Saturn V program by Richard Nixon was one of the most stupidly short-sighted decisions made by a politician in my lifetime. A single S-V would have likely cost less to fly than a Shuttle and had a payload far greater than a Shuttle.

If we had kept the Saturn V alive, the costs probably would have come down as it would be the premier super-heavy lift rocket. By now, we'd have probably built several hundred of them and, as technological evolution occurred, the rocket would have become more efficient.

But there are no super-heavy lift rockets. There hasn't been for 38 years.*

Rot in Hell, Tricky Dick. Between your War on Drugs and your gutting of the space program, you truly set the stage for fucking up this country for a very long time.
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* Yes, I know that the Shuttle was classified as a super-heavy rocket system. But since most of that was to get the spaceplane itself into orbit, I don't regard it as such. So sue me.