United Kingdom space science in the 1970s
It is necessary to establish some boundary conditions before the requirements of space scientists in the United Kingdom for the next decade or so can be profitably discussed. It will be assumed that two lessons have been learnt from the present decade; that both the conduct of space research in collaboration with Europe and the opportunities to participate in United States programmes, provide an inadequate and insecure basis for British space science. This being the case, requirements for the future must be considered with optimistic realism. Optimism is necessary, for the present internal space science budget of only half that of our contribution to Esro could not sustain the kind of programme which would make a discussion of the present kind worthwhile, and realism is necessary, for it would be merely frustrating to discuss what we would like to do if it is clearly beyond realization.