WHAT'S NEW Friday, May 07, 2004

WHAT’S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 7 May 04    Washington, DC

1. WORLD SCIENCE: U.S. LEAD IS SHRINKING – THAT’S THE GOOD NEWS. 
A front page story in the NY Times on Monday, using data provided 
by the APS, proclaimed that the "U.S. Is Losing Its Dominance in 
the Sciences."  It was already evident from the 2004 Science and 
Engineering Indicators, issued by the National Science Board in 
January, that America’s lead in basic science is narrowing.  "The 
rest of the world is catching up," NSF analyst John Jankowski told 
the New York Times.  If he means that science in the rest of the 
world is making rapid progress, it’s good news; we trained many of 
their scientists on the theory that in a world of vast disparities, 
no one is safe.  It would be even better news if our response to 
foreign competition would be to increase funding for basic science.  
Basic research is the engine of progress, and it draws top 
scientists to the U.S. from around the world, including by our count, 
20 of the Americans awarded the Nobel Prize in physics since WWII, 
28 in physiology and medicine, and another 18 in chemistry.  
Unfortunately, there is little reason to suppose our response will 
be to increase basic research.  We continue to squander our resources 
on high-profile, low-return science such as the Space Station, and 
the Moon, Mars and Beyond initiative. 

2. MOON, MARS AND BEYOND: “SPACE EXPLORATION ALLIANCE” LOVES IT.
NASA may be planning to redirect its efforts toward exploration
of space  http://www.aps.org/WN/index.cfm , as WN reported last
week, but according to the Washington Post on Saturday, the
vision in Congress is cloudy and the space initiative is stalled. 
Congress wants a plan and there is no plan.  In hopes of getting
some sort of cost estimate we went  to a noon press conference
today at the National Press Club.  A new organization called the
Space Exploration Alliance had announced they would “aggressively
refute the false impression that Moon, Mars and Beyond is too
expensive for this country to take on.”  A spokesman declared
that “Never before in the history of the United States have 13
organizations banded together to support a space initiative.”  I
saw no reason to doubt that figure, but there was still no cost
estimate.  I counted a total of three reporters in the room.  The
other 30 or so wore Space Exploration Alliance name tags, and
were apparently there for the free lunch.  One thing was clear,
if travelers to Mars are the same size as the industry reps at
the press conference, they’re gonna need a big launch vehicle. 

3. PLAN B: NASA HAS FAILED TO PROVIDE CONGRESS WITH ANY DETAILS. 
O’Keefe’s plan might be described as, “once we build it, we’ll
know what it costs.”  It’s not like the President is backing up
O’Keefe.  President Bush has not mentioned Moon/Mars since his 14
January speech to the American people.  Perhaps he decided it had
all been a mistake and took a morning-after pill.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.  
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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