From eWeek.com:

Early in the predawn Florida darkness, the Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down on Earth for the last time and braked to a stop. After a while, the crew of Atlantis boarded their bus back to their quarters, said a few words, and left America’s last Shuttle to the museum curators. Eventually, Atlantis will join other space stuff as part of a giant tourist attraction, showing generations of kids what might have been.
It's finally done. The end of the shuttle program also marks the end of John F. Kennedy's audacious mission: "We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not only because they are easy, but because they are hard." 50 years after Alan Shepard became the first American in space, NASA's last manned flight concluded, marking the space quest's untimely end.

To be fair, many have argued that space flights will continue, albeit aboard commercial shuttles and Russian crafts. If this idea plays out, the U.S. government will save a significant amount of money, while companies profit from consumers' travel and entertainment wishes and Russia shoulders any remaining monetary burdens on more prospective exploration. Given the current state of the U.S. economy, such a move may hold certain benefits. Furthermore, unmanned flights will continue for years to come, allowing scientists to continue some of the research that has been in development for the last five decades.

It's unclear, however, whether companies are really ready to begin their own shuttle programs any time soon. Russia's monopoly on manned space flight in the meantime has many in the industry worried, especially since Russia's government could charge the U.S. exorbitant prices to reserve a seat -- effectively negating any economic savings from NASA's lack of manned flights -- and it has signaled to some that America's superpower position is in decline. Furthermore, the situation is a veritable death sentence for many firms that specifically catered to astronauts' unique needs, and it's also troubling for the tourism-reliant Cape Canaveral.

So, what are your thoughts on all this? What effect does the end of this program have on the youth of today and the dream of space exploration for tomorrow? How does it effect the U.S. and global economy, and what does it do to the global political framework? Perhaps most importantly, what does it mean to you?