What might be termed the "Space Shuttle Era" is finally drawing to a close. NASA has released the targeted launch dates for the Shuttle missions over the next two years. One or two might be added, depending on the actions of Congress in regards to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, but with the conclusion of these announced missions, the International Space Station will be completed, the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope flown, and the Shuttle can go into honorable retirement.
As the Shuttle program draws to a close, it is imperative that NASA ramp up its efforts on Project Constellation. We need to have the Orion spacecraft and the Ares rockets in operation as soon as we can following the retirement of the Shuttle. Failure to do so could result in a stalled and listless space program, it being very difficult to overcome bureaucratic inertia.
