The shuttle's future has been discussed on the Utah Astronomy e-mail list, a group open to anyone. To join, browse to mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy.

Kathleen Warner, who goes by "South Jordan Mom" in the e-mail discussions, wrote in response to a Deseret Morning News question that NASA should weigh all factors carefully and then do what's best for the space program in the long run.

"If that means scrapping the Hubble and ISS, well then so be it. . . ." she said. "If NASA decides that moving forward toward the future and forgetting the old stuff that is already on its way out anyhow is their best choice." Warner hopes ATK Thiokol, which builds the solid rocket boosters used by the shuttle, "can be a part of that."

Michael Carnes, also responding to the paper, said robotic space explorers may be a better investment than the shuttle for now.

"The end of the shuttle/ISS can't come soon enough for me," Carnes wrote. "They've formed some sort of unhealthy co-dependent relationship."

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com