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[John Charles]

David,

Thanks for your clarification.  I didn't understand that you were
referring to the decision in 1972 to focus US piloted space flight
solely on the Shuttle.  But that was 36 years, more than a generation
ago (maybe two generations, by some measures).  And which space
travelling country has ever had more than one indigenous means to send
people into space, at any time?

I hope the NASA-funded COTS process does produce a crewed capability
as well as a cargo carrier--it would be interesting to see NASA
request bids from multiple providers for astronaut transportation to
ISS or other LEO destinations.

No-one else seems to have responded to my question about what
constitutes space leadership.  I know it is hard for me to quantify
it, even if I can see past my own emotional bias.

John Charles
Houston, Texas

On Sun, Aug 3, 2008 at 10:06 PM,  <Kosmos327 at aol.com> wrote:
> Hi John,
>
> I was speaking on a much broader sense echoing from the past when the
> decision was made to limit US manned access to the Shuttle. But, your point
> is more relevant. Thanks for the alternate perspective and my apologies for
> the distraction from your original thought.
>
> Regards,
>
> David L. Rickman