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)

Click here to view the Week in Political Cartoons slideshow

It’s hot all across the country. It’s hot in Washington, where politicians can’t come together with an agreement to raise the debt ceiling. It’s hot in the media world, where Rupert Murdoch’s phone-hacking scandal continues to roll along. It’s hot in Florida, Texas and many places across the country that will feel the pain of the end of the space shuttle program.

So sit back, cool off, and enjoy a look back at the week of big news stories through the eyes of the nation’s best cartoonists with our Week in Political Cartoons slideshow.

Nate Beeler / Washington Examiner (click to view slideshow)