Aerospace trade and competition

Regarding the editorial "Fiscal Realism at NASA," Oct. 1: The aerospace industry, having surpassed agriculture, is presently the No. 1 contributor to a favorable balance of trace, but if aerospace goes the way of electronics, our trade-deficit problems will be greatly increased.The space station, in addition to being a national laboratory, is also the platform for our international partners to use as a location for their space science labs. If we drop the ball, our partners will continue without us and turn out to be our competitors in technological advancement. So is it worth the cost? Should the space station be scrapped? Aren't we glad that someone back in the 1400s was able to look beyond the costs of a distant voyage? We have to look beyond the now and see what's best for the future. Kent G. Green, St. Peters, Mo.

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