Yesterday, the nation seemed fixated by images of the space shuttle Discovery flying over Washington on the back of a 747. The shuttle program has long been an symbol of American innovation and captured the imagination of millions across the globe, but with nothing in the pipeline to take its place, seeing the old workhorse circle around the Capital seems just like a sad reminder of an America in decline.

Here are five terrific cartoons that comment on our suddenly listless future of manned space flight.

Jeff Parker / Florida Today (click to view more cartoons by Parker)

Kirk Walters / Toledo Blade (Click to view more cartoons by Walters)

John Cole / Scranton Times-Tribune (click to view more cartoons by Cole)

Nate Beeler / Columbus Dispatch (click to view more cartoons by Beeler)

Bob Englehart / Hartford Courant (click to view more cartoons by Englehart)