And there's nothing like a nation voluntarily giving up a strategic indigenous capability and being beholden to others
NASA green lights April 5 launch of Discovery
WASHINGTON--NASA gave its thumbs up Friday to launch the space shuttle discovery on April 5 with its seven-member crew, including a Japanese astronaut, to the International Space Station (ISS).......
Discovery's flight will be the second shuttle mission of the year. Only three will remain before the shuttle program shuts down for good at the end of this year.
US space missions to the ISS will be flown on Russian Soyuz spacecraft until the shuttle's successor can take off by 2015 at the earliest.