Skylon versus the Dragon: isn't it time we cast aside our steam punk role?

Not that long ago, I saw a report in the press about Skylon, the name of the unmanned space plane designed by the British firm, Reaction Engines Ltd. The story of Skylon’s journey from engineer Alan Bond’s head to computer disk is too complex to lay out in detail here. However, it began in the 1980s and has cost £12 million to date. If all goes well and another £220 million is found, Skylon should be taking to the skies in another…7-8 years? Oh dear, oh dear… To make matters more poignant, the Dragon, an unmanned space capsule built by the Californian company, SpaceX, has just docked at the International Space Station. Tut-tut again. Why do the Americans always win the space race, while the British get the steam punk trophy? It’s not that we lack imagination. The greatest robot known to man was built in the mind of Mary Shelley, while HG Wells zipped us forwards and backwards in time. Great Britain is hardly a minor player on the world stage. That great political power, Russia, has long had a space program to rival the Americans, and even the come-lately Chinese are getting their program – and rockets – off the ground. Get with it, Britain. Think of the employment potential, if nothing else…more information..