Shuttle Fleet Grounded

A bit of sad juxtaposition back to back in my aggregator this evening:

CNet: Blog: Scanning today’s postings, a reader might think the world was somehow transported back to the dawn of the Space Age. …

BBC News: The US space agency Nasa says it is grounding the shuttle fleet after debris fell from Discovery.

Bummer. I don’t know how many more blows like this our space program can handle. The shuttle program is far outdated and needs replacing, but we’re not pulling out the platinum Amex.

This news makes me sad.