In article ,
says...

bob haller wrote:
The columbia loss killed the shuttle program, sure the vehicle cost a
couple billion but the program ended because the design killed 2
crews.

Don't be silly. The program ended because the vehicles got old.

I think you're both over simplifying, so I'll throw in a third over
simplification. The program ended because once ISS assembly was
"complete", the need for the shuttle vanished.

Jeff
--
"the perennial claim that hypersonic airbreathing propulsion would
magically make space launch cheaper is nonsense -- LOX is much cheaper
than advanced airbreathing engines, and so are the tanks to put it in
and the extra thrust to carry it." - Henry Spencer