Would the Last NASA Astronaut Please Turn Out the Lights??

Seriously.  Does anyone actually think the US of A will return as a government funded entity to human space travel at ANY time in the future?

I certainly don't.  And no, hitchhiking aboard a Russian rocket to the ISS doesn't count.  The first kerfuffle over darn near anything and the Russians will simply say--sorry, but your people aren't welcome aboard our rockets and the ISS is now ours.

And so it is that what was one of the USA's defining characteristics (the desire to push boundaries, explore our world, discover the unknown, advance the human race) has come to an end.  The US is so focused on itself and the issues here that it has lost its spirit and as the spirit withers, so shall the country from its place of prominence--unless, private individuals and companies take up the cause from the rotting body that is the US government.  They very well may...but not in the immediate future.

So in the interim we are resigned to let Russia rule the heavens and, oh, yeah, let China rule the deep sea.  An under-reported event this week is China's ability now to dive far deeper into the ocean depths than the US, making them capable of finding and extracting the valuable minerals and resources held there (as well as cutting communication lines, undersea sonar devices, etc.).  Much like the US space program, our deep undersea capabilities peaked some 40-50 years ago as well and we are left with the 40 year old "Alvin" which can reach only 66% of the ocean the new Chinese submersible can.  Great...

China Dives Deep...