As America's Space Shuttle Program Comes To An End, Whats Next?

Friday morning's launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis marks the end of an era for the United States and their storied space shuttle program.

Since the inception of the program thirty years ago, we have seen the greatest of accomplishments and the absolute lowest of lows- but it's been a remarkable journey, and something that I wish I would have paid a little more attention to when I was growing up.

When I was a child, there was a period of time when I dreamed of being an astronaut- just like most young children do. I remember watching the movie "Apollo 13", and building my own "space shuttle" in my room and pretending to take a journey into the final frontier, but other than that, I never tuned in to watch the space shuttle launches or landings until I was older.

Seeing that technology was rapidly progressing, I never expected that the United States' space shuttle program would come to a halt and that our country would rely upon Russia- our arch-nemesis during the great space race of the 1960's, to take our astronauts to space aboard their Soyuz rockets.

For the United States, a country that beat the then Soviet Union to the moon, ending our space shuttle program and falling back on Russia is an absolute step backwards for our country. 

A decision such as this is almost as big and unexpected as NASCAR's Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough making up and joining forces after their memorable scuffle on the backstretch at Daytona following the 1979 Daytona 500. A story that is so unbelievable and far-fetched that it can't even be imagined.

The only difference is that the United State IS teaming up with Russia- a country that we fought for years during the Cold War and was our absolute enemy for decades. A country that we spent billions of dollars to beat to the moon in the 1960's during the space race.

Much has changed since then, and the Soviet Union has completely changed- becoming what is now Russia. Still however, there are many people in our country, including those of our "greatest generation", who lived through the Cold War and despite how the country has changed through the years, they still despise them- just like how certain WWII veterans still have issues with the Japanese, all these years later.

For a country that has grown with the "never give up" motto during the last 100 years, beating the Russians to the moon and flexing our space program muscles just to quit and rely on them almost isn't American in my opinion.

Despite the theories and my opinions, it still doesn't change the fact that when Atlantis returns to Earth on July 20th, our space shuttle program will officially be over for now and could possibly be the last time that we see American astronauts take the journey to space aboard their own vehicles during our lifetime.

With that said, godspeed to Atlantis and the entire space shuttle fleet. Thanks for the memories, including the bad ones. It's been an awesome journey and is one that I will never forget.