I frank admission, a very bold and brave move.

Very few people in positions of authority, whether private,
educational, corporate or government will admit a mistake has been
made. This one is a doozy of a mistake. Try admitting that the
company you head has wasted billions if not trillions of dollars on a
dead end project. The head of NASA has just said basically those words.

NASA ADMINISTRATOR SAYS SPACE SHUTTLE WAS A MISTAKE
from USA Today

The space shuttle and International Space Station — nearly the whole
of the
U.S. manned space program for the past three decades — were mistakes,
NASA
chief Michael Griffin said Tuesday.

In a meeting with USA TODAY's editorial board, Griffin said NASA lost
its
way in the 1970s, when the agency ended the Apollo moon missions in
favor of
developing the shuttle and space station, which can only orbit Earth.

"It is now commonly accepted that was not the right path," Griffin
said. "We
are now trying to change the path while doing as little damage as we
can."
http://tinyurl.com/do4ar