Ok, for once I'm on par with the rest of you on an aeronautical subject: I also know sod all about it.
For years now I've been tracking the Shuttle and ISS on the web. It has long seemed to me that the Space Shuttle as a concept has been oversold to the American public, probably in order to secure NASA the immense budgets needed to develop it, and then to keep it running.
i. It is not reusable. (Recycleable, more like, or, perhaps, semi-expendable).
ii. It is not routine.
iii. It is not safe. (i.e. Even the post-Challenger target of 1:1,000 failure ratio is not 'safe').
iv. It is not casual. (i.e. ad-hoc EVAs).
v. Once in orbit, it is not really a 'space ship', in the popular sense. (More like a sophisticated projectile, with the ability to perform minor adjustments to its orientation and orbit).
Even a brand new Shuttle system is not going to meet all of the above criteria, and unlikely to meet even two of them.
The reality is that technology has yet to catch up to the space travel expectations of the public imagination. The Shuttle was, and is, a magnificent demonstration of American technology. But even that's not enough, yet.
TW