When the shuttle program ends, it will be the end of the US manned space flight program.

I think this is probably the real summary - the USA basically can't afford space operations beyond satellite launch/maintenance anymore. Nerdy dreams to to the contrary, it's all over.

The torch will be passed to someone else, probably in a decade or two. Likely the Chinese, but who knows.

Indeed, people are being way too hard on Ray over this. He's old and has no significant connection with the new tech. He doesn't get it. Fair enough, it is his right to go into the twilight ignoring whatever he wants to ignore. This still doesn't negate all the awesome things he wrote long ago.