People who criticize "big Government" and its projects rarely seem to
have a consistent view of the role of Government in science and
technology.  Basically, the U.S. Government has gotten into the role of
supporting research which private industry finds too expensive or too
long-term.  

(Historically, this role for the U.S. Gov't was forced upon it because
of socialism in other countries.  In order for U.S.  industries to
compete with government-subsidized foreign competitors, the U.S. Gov't
has taken on the role of subisizing big-ticket or long-lead R&D.)

As a Republican, I abhor the necessity for our Government to involve
itself in technology this way.  I believe that market forces should
drive technology, and the world would be a better place for it.  But
the whole world would have to implement this concept simultaneously, or
some countries would have subsidized R&D, while others would not.  So
the U.S. must subsidize because everybody else does.  (This sounds a
lot like the farm subsidies arguments behind our GATT negotiations,
doesn't it?)

But this role of Government subsidies is antithetical to
cost-effectiveness.  The general idea is to spend money on new
technology, and thereby maintain and promote our technological culture,
despite the forces in the business world (like the dreaded quarterly
earnings report) which erode the ability of U.S. industry to invest in
new technology.  And since our goal is to spend money, it makes little
sense to try to save money.

Of course, we could always spend our money more wisely, but EVERYBODY
disagrees about that the wisdom should be.  

It's interesting to note that some of our best tools for cost control
available in industry today were derived from Government projects.
GANTT charts, CP/M, and most of the modern scheduling software comes
from DoD projects and their contractors.  The construction industry
has taken these tools to the core of their businesses; every large
construction project now uses these tools.  

-- Ken Jenks, NASA/JSC/GM2, Space Shuttle Program Office
      kjenks@gothamcity.jsc.nasa.gov  (713) 483-4368