Q. Congress debated eight hours before approving your space station earlier this month. But many remain unconvinced that the benefits of the project match its price tag. Why does the U.S. need it?
A. There are several answers, but essentially we need to build space station Freedom with our foreign partners to keep the leadership position the U.S. holds in space. Look at how foreign countries now hold the dominant economic positions in so many parts of American life. That's not true of space. In this area we are still the world's leader. We've spent $5 billion in the station's development...