Heading back to the future

As the buzz about space grows, and with the potential for government resurrection of funding, materials for space travel-and materials creation in space-are taking on new life.

New materials for space applications can be exceptionally expensive to develop, and expensive has not been a positive concept in the space community for many years. Never mind the technology spin-offs from space exploration; give no consideration to the advances in metals, composites, electronics, you name it-all of which have moved ahead since the 1950s thanks to rocket and space research.

The national dismay and envy around Sputnik translated into government dollars. Not surprisingly, project numbers rose when funding was the most free and the romance of space travel caught the fancy of the public. Today, time has dimmed the romance, national pride has taken a back seat to international projects, and there have been high-profile reminders that life in space is precarious. The result: relatively low research funding.