Discussion on:

What happens to retired Space Shuttles?

The US is in a weird position in that having pioneered manned space flight, we do not have a replacement for the shuttles to send supplies and people to the international space station. Iran has more ambitious plans to explore space than the US.

I remember the 60s and 70s as a time when space exploration created new industries similar to the personal computer industry did in the past 15 to 20 years. Apollo 11 was a fantastic event and everyone was excited about space exploration until that mission was accomplished. Shortly after Apollo 11, the national interest dwindled away and support for the program shrank. There was a final Apollo mission that was scrapped and the Saturn V was turned into a lawn ornament for NASA.

It is sad that congress critters will fight to get one of the few shuttles to be displayed in their state. The shuttles should be a strong example of what is possible to accomplish so that the future generation will push further into space exploration. As lawn ornaments, the shuttles will be a monument to our past and not inspiration to the future.

The Air Force is developing a Shuttle replacement through the X-37B program:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-37

They're not saying what they want it for. The emphasis has changed from the exploration of space to the exploitation of space - some military, but mostly commercial & privately funded. The lives of ordinary people are improving because of space based telecom, navigation & imaging.