Credit: u/hidblyzruled
First thing: These are stills from the 2021 Netflix movie "Don't Look Up".
And yes, the space shuttle was decommissioned by then.
However: (Plot spoilers ahead)
spoiler
As it is used to lead a suicide mission along with all these nuclear missiles to destroy an incoming comet that's about to hit Earth, I kinda accept that they may have had no other option available.