To: Electronic Telegraph <et.letters@telegraph.co.uk>
Re: My admiration and appreciation of NASA Date: Sun, 05 Dec 1999 |
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Dear Sir, I read the article "Another of our space craft is missing (...and another...and another)" by Robert Matthews - presumably your science correspondent - in Sunday's Telegraph with mounting fury. Mr Matthews is an eloquent and amusing writer, but his attitude to the
subject in hand is that of a scientific philistine - deplorable for the
science correspondent of a reputable newspaper. He expresses no respect
or appreciation whatsoever of what NASA scientists have achieved, what
Of course NASA scientists make mistakes. Don't we all? Considering the complexity and magnitude of the tasks they tackle, it amazes me that they have any success at all. Born in the middle of the century, I have had the privilege of growing up with the Beatles and the American space programme, which has enriched my life with knowledge and experiences that I shall always be grateful for. Not being an American tax payer, I've never been asked to contribute a penny, so the very least I can do is to express my admiration and appreciation of their efforts, and for allowing me to share with them live both their achievements and their failures (unlike the Russians, who used to boasted to us of their successes after they had secured them, and hushed up their failures). There is much that I criticise about America - like its gun laws, death penalties and its criminally wasteful consumption of Earth's natural resources - but for its protection against tyranny, its astronomy and its programme of space exploration I am extremely thankful (neither listing is complete, by the way). How can we imbibe in our children a sense of wonder and appreciation
for the scientific and technological achievements of our age (based, of
course, on the ages that went before us: the Americans would not have got
to the Moon, or anywhere else in the solar system, without
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