Sputnik and the Big 5-0

Today's New York Times Science Times section has an all-space, all-the-time theme, in honor of Sputnik's 50th anniversary.

Among other fascinating tidbits:

Tang, no matter what you've heard, was not an invention of the space program. Neither were Teflon or Velcro.

See a slideshow of what the space program actually has done for us landlubbers.

Also, check out semi-sour (bittersweet?) grapes essay on how far we haven't come since Sputnik:

My sci-fi dreams are dead, but Sir Richard Branson and his fellow space entrepreneurs say they have business plans. If Mr. Branson manages to get the cosmologist Stephen Hawking into space and back, he will have done more for the cause of space exploration than 25 years of space shuttles going around in circles.

John Tierney offers bored decabillionaires the chance to be the next Prince Henry the Navigator, King Ferdinand, or Queen Isabella by funding a Mars mission prize, and this sage advice:

Whether you offer a prize or send your own expedition, insist that the ship carrying the first humans to Mars be named after you. Sure, you'll be accused of egotism, but pay the critics no heed. They'll be dead soon enough. Your name will live forever.

More on the private space race from reason here.