again another example of the ignorance that the american people have about the shuttle program and what it offered. Not at all your fault to not know what it is or was capable of carrying.And Im not even going to get into the lack of respect for the "Human remains"as you put it. And Honestly dont really know where to place the blame??? Is it Nasa's fault for not marketing itself and its programs better??? or Congress's fault for not giving some more money for them to do that??? or is it just a country with a prodominetly "take everything for granted" mentality??? Heres a funny fact, The ISSis in an Orbit around the earth. That means that It will continually be falling back to earth due to gravitational forces. Therefore it must be boosted up to a higher alttitude every so often to remain in its orbit.This has been done in the past bydoing a OMS burn That stands for Orbiter manuevering Sysytem.Something that is Bolted to the Shuttle. A system which I worked on forfive years.If There was to be a problem with the Russian vehicle and we not be able to do this we could have to abandon the ISS and watch it re enter earths atmosphere.AlsoI believe there area total of six humans in space currently and the soyuz holds three. You do the math. Not everyone makes it home.Thats why we, with the shuttle program had so many, so we could have a LON vehicle thats 'LaunchOn Need'a back up, and also to continue processing for another mission. So the last shuttles payload was full of supplies and things to help ISSto continue, to sustain this home in space for research and all sorts of things. Now it is complete and we cant get ourselves there toutilize it. on our own anyways. But hey we are relying on the Russians now andthey have a great record??? I meanreally whoforgot to carry the one when doing the math problemofthere re entry angle a couple of years ago?They could have openedthat capsule and had fried cosmo and astronaut brains. Attention to Detail.The Challenger was a design flaw. in the boosterOrings. And theColumbia was caused by shedding foam andice debris strikinga leftside leading edge RCCpanel (Reinforced Carbon Carbon) creating a void in the leadingedge area of the wing that allowed hot gassesto enter and breach he TPS system and caused aun recoverable situation for the flight control system to recover from. And I dont mean elevons and rudder either. The RCSand FRCS (Reaction Controll System) and (Forward Reaction Control Systems) These systems were firing more than they had in other reentries and they noticed that. Basically the Columbia was trying to survive and get its precious cargo home. but the forces of rentering at 17,500 mph was to much. causing a such a drag on the left side and the heat making it to the left main landing gear. Ever seen a 28 ply tire explode? now think of that insidethe gear well. what do you think would happen? This is why from the return to flight we incorporated the backflip manuever. Where we would position theshuttle close to the ISSand they would use the RCSand do a backflip and take pictures of the shutles exterior TPS surfaces and make sure there werent any breachs. I hope that your college kids send there little bottle rocketsto the moon. and that they are sucessfull. but as for me I think that until we have something heavy lift, thatwe arent going to beon top of space exploration.