India called off a mission of an unmanned probe to the moon after their space agency lost contact with their spacecraft. That’s a lot of rupees down the drain. When I read this story, I thought of the popular view that the United States is on its way out as a major power. The United States put a man on the moon 40 years ago, and other countries haven’t even come close. The comment Mark Twain made when a newspaper published his obituary applies here. He said, “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated”. This is true of the United States as well.
US astronauts have landed on the moon six times! Russian cosmonauts have never been there. China, the only other country to have conducted manned space missions, have never been there and they didn’t even send a man into space until 2003. When, pray tell, is Europe going to do so?
While there have been a few mishaps in the American space program, including two space shuttle catastrophes, the United States space program is evidence of its technological might. The program shows how economically strong the United States is, also. Trips to the moon are expensive!
Yes, the United States has been somewhat down and out recently, and its space program is declining. But until some other space agency trumps the success of the American lunar program, talking about the demise of the United States is only so much propoganda.
Slow News Day 