Katrina Delays Shuttle Program

Compared to the loss of life and prosperity, the loss of the Shuttle program seems paltry, not worth noticing, but it's no less dire an event.
But a delay in America's return to space could lead to an economic disaster in the coming years. If China or Russia or any of the dozens of other national and private organizations seeking Space travel superiority, surpass the U.S. in the development of Space technology, we will all suffer. Investment will move away from the U.S., to places were the potential profits are not limited to merely Earth-based endeavors. We're talking about a possible loss of trillions of dollars in investment money, to places like Brazil and Japan, who take Space exploration and its possible profits, very seriously.

I also want to point out, this latest set-back is another indication of the faulty Shuttle infrastructure. The craft and the systems used to build, repair and maintain it are not put together well; the slightest change in any part---a factory goes down in some small corner of the country--and we lose our capacity for Space travel.
Just like that. Forget about repairing the external fuel tank to prevent foam insulation from breaking loose, or performing space-based repair work, we can't even get into our factories yet!

Mike Griffin says we'll maybe have a launch before October 2006. That's enough time for Burt Rutan to launch Spaceship One more than 100 times... and enough time for China to launch its second Taikonaut.

For comparison, Russia, cash-poor though it may be, hasn't missed a Space launch in years....