Why you should be sad that constellation program has been cancelled.

This week we had news that the next Space Shuttle launch, STS 133, has been delayed. I’m not going to lie, that is barely newsworthy. But something that is very newsworthy is that, according to current plans, it is the anti-penultimate (third-to-last) launch that humanity will ever witness. That means that there are only three shuttle flights left and then – finito. And what’s scary is that the US has no replacement, and no immediate plans to construct one. The constellation program (next-gen shuttle system) is cancelled.