Discovery is NASA's countdown to credibility

Re-engage the public
"Clearly a safe return to flight is critical in terms of restoring public and congressional confidence," said Peter Diamandis, Founder and Chairman of the X Prize Foundation in Santa Monica, California. He is a leading advocate for personal spaceflight.

Beyond the shuttle’s return to flight, Diamandis said, the future of NASA is dependent upon it getting beyond low Earth orbit with a clear vision and strong public support.

"NASA needs to re-engage the public, and the way to do that can be summarized into two approaches: Allow the public to personally participate; and do something exciting and wondrous which excites the public’s imagination," Diamandis said.

Still, other space experts see a range of issues that need early resolution.

Political window
A shuttle return to flight is critical for near-term — the next two or three years — support for President George W. Bush’s national vision for space exploration, as well as for the international obligations regarding the International Space Station.

"However, the sustainability of the vision for space exploration rests with an earlier retirement of the space shuttle…prior to 2010," stressed Eligar Sadeh, Assistant Professor in the Space Studies Department, John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

"NASA needs to fly the space shuttle the absolute minimal number of times for ISS construction and move immediately as planned on a shuttle derived launch system," Sadeh said. "There is now a political window of opportunity to ‘institutionalize’ the vision for space exploration at NASA and with Congress as to budgetary appropriations."

Sadeh added, however, this window will only likely be there for a few years. As the Bush White House comes to an end, that window will shut, he said.

"If all NASA has is the space shuttle program for human spaceflight then it will likely bring about the end — or an indefinite postponement once again — of lunar base development and/or human missions to Mars," Sadeh concluded.

Time to go fly again
"Sometimes we fail and cry. But most of the time we succeed and rejoice," responded Ed Buckbee, an unabashed marketer of human spaceflight for four decades.

In 143 flights in 42 years, we have lost 17 brave Americans in human space flight," Buckbee noted. "The nation mourned and honored the crews of Apollo I, Challenger and Columbia with appropriate and deserving national memorials. It’s time to go fly again," he said.

Buckbee is co-author of the newly published book, The Real Space Cowboys (Apogee Books), with former astronaut, Wally Schirra. The volume retrofire’s back to the early, heroic days of the U.S. human spaceflight program that set the foundation for today’s shuttle program.

"I believe the U. S. must return to flight with our astronauts aboard the space shuttle. We must continue to demonstrate our leadership in space, a place few others have ventured. The nation who is the leader in space exploration will be considered the world leader of technology…as was proven in Apollo," Buckbee stated.

"The American people expect us to again fly the Space Shuttle because they are proud to say it is our shuttle and the astronauts are our American heroes, the aces of space flight," Buckbee said. "They go where others dare not. We are proud to praise these courageous, brave and adventurous astronauts."

Great historical significance
For several observers, there is a sense that Discovery’s return to flight is of great historical significance, ranking as high as other milestone making space missions of the past.

A triumphant launch and especially a safe landing is deemed an "absolute prerequisite" to NASA’s future plans, suggested John Logsdon, Director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington, D.C.

"NASA needs to get shuttle flying to finish the International Space Station. It needs to retire the shuttle as soon as possible and replace it with newer, safer, systems," Logsdon told SPACE.com, while getting started on human exploration beyond Earth orbit.

"None of this is likely to happen if this mission fails badly," Logsdon advised. "So this launch ranks up there with Alan Shepard and John Glenn’s Mercury missions and Apollo 11 in its significance."

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