"ralphewig:  Space History - I found this amazing chart on the MIT Technology Review site. It shows the number of space launches for each country over time, starting with the very first launch ever, to the end of the Space Shuttle era. One thing that immediately struck me was that the often mentioned ""US leadership in space flight"" people were so worried about losing when the Shuttle retired isn't as self-evident as some would like to believe. Actually, the list of nations on that chart is pretty long, and growing every year! Just as all nations share the responsibility of stewardship for planet Earth - and the consequences when any one of them fails in that responsibility - it will take all of humanity's resources and efforts to make us a multi-planetary society. No matter what flag is on it (although personally I'd prefer it to be none at all), any spaceship that successfully claws its way out of Earth's gravity is an accomplishment for all of us."