A rocket to nowhere

Criticism of the space shuttle design and manned spaceflight A Rocket to nowhere:

"In essence, each 'pure science' Shuttle science mission consists of several dozen automated experiments alongside an enormous, irrelevant, repeated experiment in keeping a group of primates alive and healthy outside the atmosphere."

"While half the NASA budget gets eaten by the manned space program, the other half is quietly spent on true aerospace work and a variety of robotic probes of immense scientific value."

"...ineffectual projects can be sustained indefinitely if cancelling them is sufficiently awkward."

"...no one has pointed out the inherent contradiction in requiring that a program justified on irrational grounds be run in a rational manner."