U.S. space program lost its glory
The space shuttle Discovery rolls to a stop as it lands at Kennedy Space Center after returning for the last time from a space flight to the International Space Station on March 9, 2011 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA announced April 12, 2011 that Discovery will find a permanant home at the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space museum. Credit: Getty/Joe Raedle
Regarding "Shuttle Enterprise to land at Intrepid" [News, April 13]: What's wrong with this? In Russia, they celebrate the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight and promise to test a new generation of spacecraft. Here in the United States, the NASA administrator celebrates the 30th anniversary of the shuttle's first flight by joyfully sending the shuttles to museums, with no new programs on the horizon.
History will record how the United States threw away its manned space program, while the public wallowed in reality television.
Joseph F. Russo
Bethpage
Labor Day weekend travel forecast NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa spoke with Robert Sinclair Jr., senior manager of public affairs for AAA Northeast, about some of the best and worst times to travel during the holiday weekend.
