Re: Nations and their size. Long.

In a message dated 98-05-05 16:24:57 EDT,	twilko@ozemail.com.au
(Tony
Wilkinson) writes:

<< Need we mention "Challenger"? What was that Mars probe that NASA lost
 again? How many Titan II rockets have had to be destroyed in flight in
the
 last 5 years? Don't worry the French have the same problems. The
Russians
 have the most reliable (and powerful) rockets and their industrial
level is
 somewhere between that of the US and China. They really only have
problems
 with their space stations. :) >>

Er, I don't want to start another 'nation vs. nation' debate, but I feel
like
I have to stick up for the US space program (short-sighted that it can
be);
Reuseable Spaceplane/Orbiters? (only ones in the world)
Mars Sojurner?
Clemetine?
GPS?
Voyager, Pioneer, Galileo, Viking, (Venus mapper), Cassini, Mercury.
Gemini,
Apollo? (mourn its passing and opportunities wasted)
The Russians, problematic that their program may be (low money), at
least
think about boosting large payloads into orbit.  They have
Proton/Energias; we
HAD Saturn Vs.	The French HAVE Ariane Vs (or is it VI?) and some minor
software problems.  And the Russians HAVE a working (sort of) space
station.
No-one else does.  It's exceeded design expectations and survived
numerous
accidents and problems with aplomb.  I'll miss her next year.

Noah V. Doyle