quote:

They can maneuver autonomously in space and aren't designed to transit the atmosphere.

ISS can boost itself in orbit, but that is about it. But your comparison to it and the Space Shuttle is accurate, it couldn't really do much more either once it was in orbit.

Too bad we didn't stick to exploring with the Apollo hardware after the Moon missions - the space shuttle, while unique, was a ticket to 30+ years of being stuck in LEO.