Lost capability - as assessed in short and longer terms

Concerning the status of America's space program, or lack of one, Daniel Greenfield writes at Front Page Magazine:

It would have cost $11 billion to keep the Space Shuttle flying until 2015. And that extension would have kept the talent and resources of America’s space program together. Instead it went elsewhere, to Pakistan, to Egypt, to the United Nations and to green energy programs for the Sultan of Brunei. 

“The U.S. for the first time since the beginning of the Space Age will have no way to launch anyone into space,” John Glenn wrote. 

The space program is grounded, Muslim self-esteem is flying high and American self-esteem is low.

Of course, the demise of American's manned space program can't be laid solely at the feet of Obama. At the time of their retirement, America's space shuttles were well past the number of years they were originally intended to stay in service. On the other hand, they never achieved the frequency of flight promised when they were designed in the 1970s. And the fleet suffered two catastrophic failures resulting in the loss of craft and crew.

If I recall, when the space shuttles first came on line, it was projected they would be replaced by a second generation shuttle sometime in the 1990s. No second generation ever came into being.