I still maintain that the program hasn't cost that much. Over it's 30 year history, the program only cost around $43 billion if what I read was accurate(wikipedia). That's a pinprick amount over the course of 30 years. The human cost is great with Challenger and Columbia, but that is a risk these people(including myself) gladly accept to take to go into space( not to mention Challenger and Columbia were both preventable. Well Columbia would have been lost, but the crew could have been saved).
But watching a Shuttle go up is amazing. I was finally able to get away from school and witness my first Shuttle launch after living in FL for 3 years. Went to see Endeavour go up for STS-134 and I loved it. You first see the Shuttle go up and after it went above the clouds, one minute later you heard the sound of the SRB's.
Actually, I agree with you in terms of cost over a 30 year period, but, in a democracy, elected elites are considered accountable for what they choose to do with public monies. Autocratic regimes are different, which is why the Soviet Union never had to answer for the resources they poured into such programmes.
This is not the 1960s, and the public's interest is less than it was in space exploration. There are probably a number of reasons for that; the nature of what has been explored and discovered is less exciting than racing to the moon, for example; perhaps, too, it is more complex and thus difficult to explain in a culture of sound-bites; maybe, of necessity, it is supposed to remain secret, and possibly not as many people and youngsters are as au-fait with the vocabulary of science. The gap between what the "general public" knows and understand and what the "specialists" know may have grown wider with the years, and few seem willing to attempt to bridge it (a lack on the part of the media and educational establishments).
Besides, the shuttle programme itself could have done more to explain what it had achieved in terms of discoveries, inventions and questions asked and answered; I have long been surprised that more wasn't done to highlight was had been done and what would be examined in the future. Properly handled, it would be very exciting and interesting.
Re Challenger and Columbia, they were not the only casualties; if memory serves, Apollo 1 was a disaster. With that sort of exploration and cutting edge experience, tragedies and accidents sometimes happen. I'm in agreement with you on this, as it is a risk I'd have been more than willing to take as well.
Anyway, as I posted to eawmp1, I'm truly envious (and impressed) that you were fortunate enough to have managed to witness this; it is something I would have loved to have seen for myself.
Cheers
