So don't tell me this great, rich country of ours can't afford to be in space — I am sick of hearing that refrain.

In fact, the next time someone tries to tell you we can't afford NASA, that we need to spend the money "here" (as if we loft the Benjamins into orbit!), I have some advice for you: If you don't want to mention the cost of the wars, if you would rather not get into Wall Street or Detroit bailouts, or if you don't want to tell them the money we spend on the space program is about the same as our annual expenditure on coffee — why not mention India? Say something like this: "Calcutta can afford it — and Cleveland can't?" Or perhaps more accurately: Calcutta thinks it cannot afford not to be in space — and we can? This would be a good time to remind them that when they need some tech support, they are likely talking to a smart, ambitious, young person in Bangalore — not Baltimore.