Circling the subject

Re “The shadow of Sputnik,” Opinion, Oct. 4, and “Beep. . . beep. . . beep,” editorial, Oct. 4

Am I disappointed in The Times. Not one news article about the event that so dramatically changed the course of national and international events; only an editorial calling NASA an “arcane bureaucracy” and a “Cold War relic,” and an Op-Ed from a military man who sees space primarily as a battlefield. The vast American economy that you celebrate that “swamped the Soviets” has, of course, been largely outsourced to nations such as China and India. One of the few remaining areas in which this country still leads technologically is in space, largely because of the successes of NASA over the years. The Times defends President Eisenhower, who let our technological edge slip away, and praises a movie (“E.T.,” written by non-technical writers) in thinking that the average home (thanks to our consumer society) could put together, out of junk, some advanced communication system to talk to outer space. Whew! Stupid!

Wesley Orr

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