Was the space shuttle a massive mistake? #shorts #history

Bit of a hot take, but I think the shuttle was a huge mistake. And I'm not the only person that thinks so. NASA administrator Mike Griffin somewhat infamously said the same thing in a USA Today interview on September 28th of 2005 while he was administrator. The space shuttle was NASA's big post Apollo goal. This was the first one that was going to have new technology, new hardware, a whole new goal, and it was always designed to be a shuttle to a space station. Nixon approved the space shuttle in 1972, but he didn't approve the station, which meant that it was a shuttle to nowhere, kind of like the escalator to nowhere in the Simpsons. Mike Griffin said this was the wrong decision for NASA at the time, but because it was then committed to building this vehicle, that then shaped the AY's policy and the country's activities in space for 30 years. He called it an aggressive design that was just barely possible. The shuttle was initially supposed to launch 40 to 50 missions a year and have multiple launch pads and be able to fly simultaneously. It was supposed to make space flight both really routine and really cheap. So much so that NASA would be able to actually sell space on the launches to commercial partners, to foreign governments and even for publicity things like teachers in space. The shuttle had so much promise and it was funded because of that promise. It was also meant to be paired with the station. So, not having that station come onto the scene for almost 20 years was a little bit problematic for the program. So, what do you think? Was Mike Griffin right? Was the space shuttle ultimately a giant mistake for NASA? If you want to know more about the ins and outs of politics affecting space flight, because stop pretending that it doesn't, got a brand new YouTube video about it. Check it out. the links in my bio.