The next space race

摘要

The end of NASA's shuttle programme has prompted much hand-wringing in the year that marks the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's speech announcing plans to land Americans on the moon.Many believe the space age has failed to live up to the promise of Kennedy's grand challenge, let alone the fantasies of Star Trek. Others rake over the ashes of two shuttle disasters and condemn NASA as a sclerotic bureaucracy that belongs to a bygone age. A few fear that the space race is finally over.