Last week we saw the return of Discovery to our beautiful planet. It was good to see the safe return of the astronauts. But it was also very heart-warming to see the many nationalities amongst the crews of the shuttle and of the space station, all working together towards a common goal. I am very proud to be a member of our ever-growing European family, and look forward to the day when the ESA, also, sends and international crew into the great unkown. Perhaps, many of you will not know this, but without the help of Polish scientists, NASA astronauts would probably not be going "where no one has ever gone before"!
NASA is a consortium of many nations now. Science knows no borders and the Polish have contributed as much as the Russians...in the end, the US program has received the initial funding and knowledge required to solicit and purport exploration for the betterment of all....no exclusive applause due for any nation except America (just my 2 cents). I am sure we would be happy to support the Polish space program (hum, they haven't one per say)
"no exclusive applause due for any nation except America (just my 2 cents)." Really? I suspect there are plenty of europeans who would disagree with you! And, just to put the record straight, no nation here is looking for "exclusive applause...except (perhaps) America"? (just my 2 pence).
I don't think so. I work for an engineering firm, in fact, the one that put all their planes up to NATO standards, a Part 21 firm. Point is, from Paris Air show to CeBIT to INVEX and MSV, we participate and hear the voices of those in the know within the space and avaition industry. The general consensus is, thank God NASA exists, for no other nation to date has had that type of budget nor initiative...applause comes from those nations that realize its importance, and realize that the USA has advanced space technology/exploration more than any other. No, I don't speak for a continent, but something tells me you definetly don't also. I also don't remember the name of the UK program that is exclusively known worldwide as a space leader, could you refresh my memory ? :lol:
