The science and technology world has seen some exciting events unfold during the past couple of months. Coupled with the Mars exploration, President Bush's January 14 announcement of a new space program and the projected infusion of funds (in the 12 billion dollars range over a five-year period), all portend a healthy future for America's space program. The Apollo and Sputnik programs spawned a new generation of scientists and engineers in the 1960s, and science and engineering were highly respected (perhaps even "cool") career choices then. The technological spin-offs from the space program were enormous, and many of the advances in semiconductor science/technology, fuel cells, communications, solar cells, and the like can be traced back to the investments made in the space program during the late 1950s and 1960s. We can anticipate similar fallout from the new initiatives in human space travel and it is interesting that countries like China have jumped into the fray. Perhaps the spin-offs this time will be in the life sciences area with discovery of new chemical elements and new sources of precious metals being important bonuses. The implications for finding new energy sources are also far-reaching as the "Free Radicals" column in this issue illustrates.
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