This Side of the Pond

As long-time readers of this column may recall, I view the concept of space travel with appropriately starry eyes. To me, it is among the more vital components of our collective future that we explore those remote horizons and answer the question so many of us ask as we gaze up at the night sky: what’s really out there?

The brave few who have looked down on this planet from above, and the ones who made it possible, are among my most beloved heroes. My reaction to an announcement from NASA last week was directly related to this lifelong love of everything beyond the shield of our atmospher...