People forget it came about in an era of trying to out-spend the Soviet Union's military to make it collapse. The shuttle was built the way it was with the expe

People forget it came about in an era of trying to out-spend the Soviet Union's military to make it collapse. The shuttle was built the way it was with the expectation of military launches. When those didn't materialize in sufficient quantity, they were left with an expensive ship that didn't serve any of the remaining uses well.