A bitter pill to swallow:
Almavorism breeds competition...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- Fifty years after Sputnik became the world's first artificial satellite, a new race is under way with the finish line on the moon. NASA, the former lunar champion, already is predicting defeat.
"I personally believe that China will be back on the moon before we are," NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said in a low-key lecture in Washington two weeks ago, marking the space agency's 50th anniversary, still a year away.
"I think when that happens, Americans will not like it. But they will just have to not like it."
Griffin's candor startled many in the space community, but insiders acknowledge the reality. China has pulled off two manned spaceflights with its own rockets and is eager to head for the moon.
NASA insists it's not a race anymore, with grander, longer-range goals than Apollo's flags and footprints. Think lunar bases, with encapsulated minivans for transporting astronauts.
"The U.S. has to get over this feeling that it has to be a competition," said White House science adviser John Marburger.
I smell a rat. Can't afford to say much more than, "I see Chinese flags waving on The Moon." And what's up with "...they will just have to not like it." Is that America today? |
