To some space scientists, like James Van Allen (see below), Discovery's plight is just another sorry reminder of NASA's wrongheaded policies. By relying almost exclusively on the shuttle to launch payloads, Van Allen argues, the agency has seriously set back U.S. space science.
Other scientists are more sanguine about the shuttle's role in space science. Burton Edelson (see below) points out that the manned orbiter has opened up entirely new areas such as microgravity experimentation and manufacturing.
For many of NASA's own scientist/astronauts, however, it is abundantly clear that the shuttle has not lived up to its full potential at as a vehicle for space science. In the following condensation of an interview with The Scientist's John Carey, NASA astronaut and mission specialist Anthony England explains why—and offers advice on how the science community can tackle the problem.]
The reality, of course, is that we never achieved that potential. In ...
