A new space race would not be undesirable — in fact, given the attitude of most Americans toward space expenditures at present, it’s probably the only thing that could induce us to get moving. Let’s face it, we never would have gotten to the moon in the 60s if we had not been in a race with the Russians. As far as advancement for humankind is concerned, the effects of that race were entirely positive. Historians of future centuries may even say that the Cold War was a good thing because it stimulated computer technology and space technology that otherwise wouldn’t have been developed as rapidly.

We can certainly win a space race with China if we make the effort — and without one, sufficient motivation for that effort unfortunately appears to be lacking. Competition always leads to achievement. This is as true in other areas as it is in business and in sports, something advocates of cooperative programs never seem to grasp. How many sports stars would there be if athletes didn’t compete? How many people would watch games on TV if they didn’t care who won? We should not be surprised that once the space race of the 60s was over, apathy set in among most members of the public. The mistake that those of us interested in space made in expecting public enthusiasm to last was that we assumed more people shared our interest than actually did. Now we know! The public was enthusiastic about the race, not space itself. What happened once could happen again. Personally, I hope it does.