Poised for the Leap

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The Russians obviously agree. Says Mstislav Keldysh, head of the Soviet Academy of Sciences: "Man will always strive to take a direct part in scientific space research. Automatic devices can never fully replace man." Russia and the U.S. are both realistically aware that manned flight to the moon, more than any other feat, will capture the imagination of the world and produce great political and psychological benefits to the nation that accomplishes it first. And both may well be driven toward the moon more by the age-old instincts of their species than by the most compelling of practical reasons.

It all comes down to this: man long ago picked the moon as a goal, and there is no turning back.