[kidsnow]

I love that fact that there are "usual procedures" when it comes to humans going back and forth to our 20-year-old SPACE STATION!

Maybe we don't have the space program of our dreams. But we've certainly accomplished the goal of having "routine" operations in space over a long period of time. How much have humans learned in that time!

[fhbdukfrh]

Unfortunately(and it's truly unsexy science) not much compared to twenty years of unmanned space exploration.

Everyone loves the idea of humans in space, but we learn so much more from robots and computers it makes the manned programs such a waste...

[stjohnswarts]

Without heroes the public will turn against it and not give a damn about robots and computers. I think we need manned space programs to keep the momentum going. Otherwise everyone will be like "why are we in space when the homeless don't have homes". I know it's stupid logic but that the way the masses think quite often.

[adrianN]

We learn a lot more about how to do manned space flight from actual manned spaceflight than from robotic missions though.

[nitrogen]

No amount of unmanned exploration can help when the question is, "How soon can I vacation (or conduct business) in space?"

[stcredzero]

I love that fact that there are "usual procedures" when it comes to humans going back and forth to our 20-year-old SPACE STATION!

Next, we'll have real-life gritty action heroes who admit to "making it up as I go along?" (Actually, that was Neil Armstrong when we manually piloted the first lunar landing.)

[stjohnswarts]

Nothing in space in usual or "safe". There is always a relatively large chance that you can end up in a fireball relative to say getting on an airplane or driving to work. I wouldn't ever take space for granted at this point.