The decision to build the space station too weak a commitment?

The decision to build the Space Station illustrates the way in which the incremental nature of policy making in the US government favours short-term flexibility over long-term commitments. In making the moves necessary to win approval for the Space, Station NASA officials and their allies took actions which gave policy makers frequent opportunities to re-examine the programme once approved, and may have made likely the continuing uncertainty over the future of the station. Difficulty in securing long-term commitments for large and complex science and technology programmes has been a central feature of US space policy ever since the landing on the Moon.     

闻邦椿 著名振动学专家

您长期从事振动学与机械学的研究并开辟了"振动利用工程"这一新学科,请您谈一谈‘振动利用工程"目前的研究情况.     

Development of a global EDOS: political support and constraints

The development of a global environmental and disaster satellite observation system (EDOS) has recently received attention, particularly as a potential cooperative project with the USA and Japan as the initiators. Such a system, proponents contend, would provide valuable and potentially lifesaving information to developed and particularly developing countries which might not otherwise have such information available, as well as provide a vehicle to strengthen ties between the USA and Japan at a time when strife over trade issues is too often emphasized. The initiation of such a project, however, has not been without difficulty. Beyond the technical issues, there has been hesitation and scepticism on the part of some national space players concerning the project, often motivated by parochial political concerns rather than conceptual or technical issues. The focus of this article is an examination of those political factors which have acted as impetus and barriers for the initiative, using interviews with programme participants, direct author observation at related meetings and internal documents and correspondence.