TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - A retired astronaut from Kansas says he hopes kids still feel the lure of space.

Steve Hawley spoke Friday morning at the Topeka South Rotary's meeting. The Salina native flew five space shuttle missions.

Hawley says that as the 30-year shuttle program has ended, he reminds people how much it accomplished and how important it was to the country. Now that it's gone, he says he's uncomfortable with the U.S. being dependent on other countries to get astronauts into space.

Hawley says the shuttle program also will be missed for for how it served as a motivator for young people. While not every kid must grow up and be an astronaut, he says the country does need more young people to study math, science and engineering if the U.S. is to remain competitive. He says the possibilities of space are what inspired him.

Hawley says the U.S. will need to decide its priorities and determine if it's comfortable with nations like China sending people to the moon when we are not.

Hawley is now director of engineering physics at the University of Kansas, where he also teaches physics and astronomy.