learning
...ate an agency that is facing both the withdrawal of its flagships, the still-grounded space shuttles, and the failure of the international space station to deliver anything remotely approaching an interesting scientific result. THE name Eugene Cernan means little to most people, though space nerds may remember it. Along with more famous astronauts such as Neil Armstrong, Mr Cernan played a role in the annals of space exploration by walking on the moon. And he was the last to do so, which is fame of a sort. If George Bush gets his way, however, this claim to fame may vanish. That is because Mr Bush has a vision. He wants humans to return to the moon by 2020. The questions are, first, what for? And, second, having been given such orders, what will Mike Griffin, the new boss of America's space agency, NASA, do to execute them? The second question seems more urgent because Mr Bush's initial goal is to reinvigorate an agency that is facing both the withdrawal of its flagships, the still-grounded space shuttles, and the failure of the international space station to deliver anything remotely approaching an interesting scientific result. THE name Eugene Cernan means little to most people, though space nerds may remember it. Along with more famous astronauts such as Neil Armstrong, Mr Cernan played a role in the annals of space exploration by walking on the moon. And ...