[ghtbircshotbe]

With the current moon mission I'm reminded of how whenever someone from NASA is interviewed they like talking about how the billions spent are justified because of the practical results of the research - Velcro, Tang, etc. It always seemed like a stretch, but I have the unpleasant feeling the US is going to lean the true value of being the research leader when it's gone.

[spiderfarmer]

There are so many areas where the US lead, but lost the plot. And what did we learn from them losing that leadership status?

We learned that the average citizen will never accept that as fact. And even if they do: they’ll say it never mattered much anyway.

Like life expectancy, happiness, social mobility, literacy, student performance, global soft power and their overall reputation.