41.   The shuttle is a bore.

42.   The shuttle is a link to the Brooklyn Museum, the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library and the Botanic Garden.

43.   The shuttle is to carry seven astronauts to the station, including three making up the so-called Expedition Two replacement crew.

44.   The shuttle is to lift off Friday morning.

45.   The space agency believes the shuttles are robust enough to justify the new investments.

46.   The shuttle also is to deliver supplies, including a new Russian-built main computer, which arrived at Cape Canaveral from Moscow on Monday.

47.   The shuttle is a descendant of the Eastern Shuttle, which was run by the now-defunct Eastern Airlines.

48.   The shuttle is due back at the Kennedy Space Center on Friday.

49.   The shuttle may not be the most beautiful spaceship ever designed, but it can be impressive in action.

50.   The shuttles are going commercial, slowly for now, then perhaps faster in the years ahead.