The following editorial appeared in Friday’s Dallas Morning News:

NASA’s decision to ground indefinitely its once-proud fleet of space shuttles further dents the nation’s extraterrestrial pride and clouds Houston’s outlook as the center of manned space exploration.

The decision was the only one possible, considering the engineering and financial calculus involved: More than two years and $1 billion of dedicated work didn’t fix the problems that caused the tragic breakup of space shuttle Columbia over Texas.

This week’s liftoff of Discovery came with the same shedding of insulation debris that damaged Columbia’s wing and doomed its descent. Mercifully for the Discovery crew, it appears that the craft escaped serious damage.

Yet the episode provides another compelling argument that the 20-year-old shuttles, with their 1970s design, are past their usefulness and literally invite disaster in one of the nation’s most hazardous scientific endeavors.

Three shuttles remain from the original fleet of five. Two accidents in 113 previous missions – Columbia in 2003 and Challenger in 1986 – have claimed the lives of 14 astronauts.

The shuttle program has been a success, if measured by its goal of carrying astronauts and labs into space in reusable vehicles. The cost of maintaining the shuttle program and related space station has been estimated at $52 billion over the next 10 years – a stiff price tag to keep aging hardware aloft.

President Bush has called for a shuttle phase-out by 2010 and a new manned-travel program to revisit the moon and explore Mars. NASA could benefit the cause of space travel by declaring the shuttle program grounded permanently and arguing for resources to meet the president’s challenge.

The space community surrounding Houston’s Johnson Space Center was jolted by NASA’s grounding declaration this week. But it has rebounded from far worse setbacks, such as the Columbia and Challenger tragedies. These space pioneers certainly would show the same resilience if asked to abruptly change course on their path of space exploration.

In the meantime, we join them in wishing Godspeed to their colleagues aboard Discovery, who will be traveling 17,000 mph as they begin re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere Aug. 7.