The articles in this special issue of PHYSICS TODAY, together with Minoru Oda's article on the space science program in Japan (December, page 26), portray a research field beset by contradictions. The space research programs of the USSR, Europe and Japan are flourishing. Their scientists are busy analyzing the results of recent successes in Solar System exploration and in astrophysics. They are also busy constructing new projects, some of which are joint international ventures involving a substantial pooling of resources. International cooperation is the mot d'ordre in Europe and the USSR, where enthusiasm and optimism are pervasive.

Topics
Space science, Astrophysics, Solar system
1.
Astronomy Survey Committee, National Research Council, “Challenges to Astronomy and Astrophysics,” National Academy P., Washington, D.C. (1983).
2.
Space Science Board, National Research Council, “Space Science in the 21st Century—Imperatives for the Two Decades 1995–2015,” National Academy P., Washington, D.C. (1988).
3.
S. K. Ride, “Leadership and America's Future in Space,” NASA (1987).
4.
National Commission on Space, Pioneering the Space Frontier, Bantam, New York (1986).
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© 1988 American Institute of Physics.
1988
American Institute of Physics
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