<b>One of the many false ideas people have about space travel is that it is leading the human race ahead boldly into the future, hand-in-hand with high technology. This is another one of those old chestnuts from the 1950s that simply isn't true anymore, but still lingers in peoples' minds and makes it difficult for them to think clearly about space.</b><br /><br />Oh, yes, the 1950's. The "International Geophysical Year" was the best thing humans ever did - far more advanced to the cause of science than Alan Sheppherd on the Moon with his 9-Iron to impress all of his friends in the club back on Earth. I love Joe Engle to death - as an X-15 pilot, as an X-24B pilot - as a Shuttle Astronaut, and as one of the (few) U.S.A.F. generals I have ever met that I both love and respect - both man and rank.<br /><br />Add the NSA Director to this list - if you don't believe me, ask General Mike Hayden -- the best thing the Air Force has seen since Joe Engle. <br /><br />But, I, for one, am glad that Joe Engle got bumped from Apollo 17 so that Geologist Harrison Schmicht could go up instead. Of course, Joe Engel should have been an Astronaut on the Moon - specifically on Apollo 14 in Al Shepphard's place.<br /><br /><b><br />One version of this delusion is that our current space vehicles are on the cutting edge of technology, and that flying them somehow strengthens our technological base and produces spin-offs that benefit other industries. This notion is frequently cited by supporters of the new "Vision for Space Exploration" now being debated in Washington. The common use of the term "rocket science" to describe anything extremely complicated and difficult is both a product and a cause of this belief.<br /><br />To see how wrong this idea is, just consider Israel, India, and China. All three nations have launched domestically designed earth satellites on domestically designed space boosters. During the same period, all three nations tried to produce a domestic jet fighter aircraft desi</b>