What exactly did we accomplish from all these "missions?"
GPS satellites
Hubble telescope--figuring out where we are on the map of the universe and age of universe, and found out that the universe is still expanding at an accelerating pace,etc..
ISS -- countless experiments relating to gravity and space from countly institutions
Proven: the most complicated machine developed by humans could indeed be reused to enter space many times and withstand the pressures of space. Discovery had 39 missions in space.
An economical way to deliver hundreds of satellites into orbit and perform maintenance on them--these satellite have driven technology, from cell phones, to GPS, to keeping watch on our atmosphere and ozone so policies can be made reference global warming or cooling, or whatever you subscribe to.
Galileo probe to Jupiter.
Magellan mission to Venus.
Perhaps most importantly, it accelerated the fall of our enemies, the USSR, thanks to our respect in technology and possible Star Wars defense system which Reagan used as a tool to speed the fall of Russia. Because of our place as the world's leader in technology, we haven't been messed with by other countries. That will no doubt end. When China and India and Japan and other countries outperform us in pushing the boundaries of technology, we'll just be spectators and we will be bullied because in the next generation, our technology and position in the world will be in free fall.
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