It's gone because it sucked. It cost about 100 times more than NASA said it would. In fact, if the Apollo program just stayed operational, NASA would now have moonbases and people on Mars, and 14 people would still be alive.

The shuttle was the only vehicle, so you fell in love with it: like a Cindy Crawford with a taste for diamonds, a massive mole covering half her face, missing a leg.

The military fucked the shuttle by insisting that it be able to carry payloads almost twice as large as NASA wanted. This meant having to strap on the insanely dangerous SRBs to the side, and meant the shuttle could not carry its external tank all the way to orbit, where it would have formed the basis of many space stations: and be melted down to on-orbit processing in massive solar furnaces.

Then there was the insane decision to put the shuttle alongside the ET, instead of on top of it: a fatal design flaw - literally.

The US is much better off without that millstone around their necks - but it is indeed a shame that you gave it up before you had a replacement, while annually you spend more on air conditioning to keep soldiers cool in Afghanistan than you do on the whole NASA budget.

Don't go thinking I don't know what I'm talking about or am not a fan of space or the shuttle. here's a pic of the paper model I have been working on for the last 6 years. http://4sure.co.nz/iss-paper-model/iss-wip-07.jpg