Retire the Shuttle by 2010 or Blind the Vision

Long before the Vision for Space Exploration was announced, The Planetary Society had been calling for a redirection of human spaceflight policy. Limited to low Earth orbit for more than 30 years, with no destination and no goal, human spaceflight was serving no purpose worth its cost and risk. Yet there is a purpose worth that cost and risk — exploration of other worlds. This is why, even before it became public and ever since, The Planetary Society has supported the policy of the space vision — sending humans back to the Moon and on to Mars. We see this not as just an American goal, but also a goal of Earth — extending the human presence into the solar system.