But the idea of sending astronauts to other planets remains a powerful, animating force. That passion should be indulged only when the costs can be brought down to bearable levels. Meanwhile, there are even more formidable challenges - in eliminating poverty, eradicating disease and educating the ignorant - to be faced here on Earth.. Sir: You imply that libel trials should be treated as a form of entertainment, particularly in the light of the "last great libel trial of the millennium" ("Trial by soundbite: so why not go all the way and let the cameras in?", 22 December).

Appropriately enough, Discovery's return was heralded by the Hubble Space Telescope, sparkling like a brilliant star as it passed 380 miles above Florida a few minutes before the shuttle's touchdown.The New York TimesThe best rationale for space exploration is to gain scientific knowledge and to search for life forms elsewhere, a task performed most cheaply and safely by unmanned probes. As we prepare to close the 1990s, the seemingly routine nature of the space shuttle program in particular should not blind us to the fact that momentous things are unfolding every single time a shuttle flies. On the whole, despite the temptation to focus on the down years, the space program has been one of the most successful and momentous undertakings in human history. Like fixing the Hubble's eye on the heavens, we all could stand to adjust our viewpoints a bit.The Washington PostLeaving the repaired Hubble Space Telescope behind in orbit, the shuttle Discovery's crew ended the century's final manned space flight today with a ghostly nighttime landing. It was the 13th night landing in shuttle history, and Discovery's fiery trail in the upper atmosphere was visible to observers from southern Texas to the Gulf Coast. It's easy to dwell on the negativity of 1999 for the space program, but we should remember the still incredibly complex business of space travel and exploration Nasa is perhaps a victim of its own success. And this has been a particularly trying year during which two Mars spacecraft were lost and the international space station has been set back by Russian problems.

Sunday's Discovery launch of the repair mission for the Hubble telescope and Monday's safe return represented years of risk and drudgery performed by thousands of people laboring in anonymity. Indeed, the best known shuttle astronauts are those who lost their lives on the Challenger. The space program has proved its worth by fueling a host of indispensible innovations in everyday life. Its continued support promises to produce more breakthroughs in the next century. America's great inventor, Thomas Edison, said that genius is 10 per cent inspiration and 90 per cent perspiration. The spectacular achievements, frustrations and tragedies of the space program prove how little has changed since he spoke those words in the midst of an earlier era of technological wizardry. Houston ChronicleThe irony is that one of the most trouble-plagued missions in one of the slowest launch years for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was sent to help rescue one of the space agency's biggest success stories, the Hubble.

Daytona News-Journal Like any large, complex enterprise, Nasa could be run more efficiently. The agency has left itself vulnerable to criticism by spreading resources too thinly, instead of concentrating on doing a few projects exceedingly well. But the agency may have an even bigger problem in trying to bridge the gap between the values of American consumerism and scientific exploration We get impatient when we can't have something hot and fast. But the mysteries of science do not lend themselves to quick fix, microwaved solutions. Then the people may gather once more, in some new darkness, an audience again, more intent on having a date and a dream than on being hysterically up to date.Tomorrow: Colin Spencer on the future of food. Who can doubt that, sooner or later, the chaos of Russia will furnish something astonishing? And who can be sure that even the US will not enter a dark night of the soul, from economic slump, toxic infection or a feud between the young and the old that makes those between black and white or male and female seem like practice.