NASA throws money at origin-of-life (OOL) studies that are doomed to failure, and at education programs to tell students that futility is good science.
Geophysicists are still puzzling over how the earth's magnetic field and Van Allen radiation belts protect the surface from deadly particles in the solar wind.
Dr Henry Richter, who has contributed articles to CEH, is a VIP at NASA's 60th Anniversary celebration of America's first satellite. *Audio version included.