Science: A Jarring View: Are the Soviets ahead in space?

The Soviet Union has an "almost frightening" ten-year lead over the U.S. in the practical exploitation of space. That is the jarring message of the 1986 edition of Jane's Spaceflight Directory, published in Britain last week. Editor Reginald Turnill's appraisal is based partly on the fact that the Soviets have already launched the Mir space station, possibly the base module for an even larger structure, while it is likely the U.S. space station will not be operational until 1996, at best. "That's the ten-year gap, and this was the case before Challenger exploded," Turnill declares. "One can even argue that it's more," he says, citing the Soviets' longer and more numerous manned spaceflights.

NASA was quick to respond, noting that the Soviet shuttle has yet to fly in space and touting U.S. "capabilities in retrieval, repair and construction in space, which are well beyond anything they have done." Others point to the U.S. lead in satellite technology and the feats of America's Viking Mars landers and Voyager planetary probes. "We tend to move in leaps and bounds, and they move incrementally," says Nancy Lubin of the congressional Office of Technology Assessment. "The race hasn't ended yet."