Discovery lifted off Tuesday without incident, and the crew made it safely into space. Video monitoring of the launch, however, found evidence of foam falling from the tank during seperation… the same thing believed to have been the cause of the Columbia disaster. NASA has halted any further shuttle missions until the issue of falling foam is resolved.

There are some who believe the shuttle program should be cancelled altogether. Most notably in my mind is Gregg Easterbrook, who first expressed this opinion in the Washington Monthly 25 years ago. His thoughts - particularly those regarding the heat shield tiles - were considered eerily prescient when tragedy struck Columbia, and to a lesser extent when the Challenger exploded. He expressed his disapproval of the shuttle program again in Time magazine days after the Columbia disaster.

Notable scientist Michio Kaku, who has spoken out in a similar vein against the Cassini mission, recently called the space shuttle the single most efficient method of wasting billions of taxpayers’ dollars.

Other critics say the Columbia disaster demonstrates that the space shuttle is the wrong tool for NASA’s job”. And James Oberg opines that NASA’s problems start at the top.

I agree with the likes of Gregg EasterBrook, Michio Kaku, and other critics. It’s time to scrap the “flying brick”. Thanks to efforts like the X Prize, privately funded crafts are reaching outer space, and their sponsors are motivated by far loftier goals than those of NASA. But best of all, they don’t cost taxpayers billions of dollars every year.