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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Thirty Years of Technological History Come to an End

    Just before 11:30 today East Coast Time, the voices of NASA were heard describing the launch of a Space Shuttle for the last time. As Atlantis took to the skies at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA marked the "sentimental journey into history." What did shuttle accomplished in 30 years?

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    Just before 11:30 today East Coast Time, the voices of NASA were heard describing the launch of a Space Shuttle for the last time. As Atlantis took to the skies at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA marked the "sentimental journey into history." What did shuttle accomplished in 30 years? Was it a scientific success or a magnificent failure? We talk to one of the first women to work at NASA, who hoped to set foot on another planet. Is America's dream of space exploration out of date? Is it time to transfer the energy, imagination and resources into the problems we face here on Earth?

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Does the Last Shuttle Flight Mark the End of an Age of Optimism?
    1. 0:00Latest Unemployment Numbers Provide Grim Job Creation News
    2. 7:39Thirty Years of Technological History Come to an EndYou’re reading this
    3. 45:08British Phone Hacking Scandal Leads to Arrests
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Frances Anderton

      architecture critic and author

    • Sonya Geis with wavy brown hair wearing a black dress with red accents and decorative earrings against a white background.

      Sonya Geis

      Senior Managing Editor

    • KCRW placeholder

      Julia Flucht

      Producer, 'To the Point'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Scott Powers

      Orlando Sentinel

    • KCRW placeholder

      Marianne Dyson

      former NASA flight controller

    • KCRW placeholder

      Thom Mayne

      Morphosis Architects

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Does the Last Shuttle Flight Mark the End of an Age of Optimism?
    1. 0:00Latest Unemployment Numbers Provide Grim Job Creation News
    2. 7:39Thirty Years of Technological History Come to an EndYou’re reading this
    3. 45:08British Phone Hacking Scandal Leads to Arrests
    Back to To the Point