Space Camp a Waste of Government Funds

* Somehow, I can’t see the rationale in spending our bankrupt government’s money to send children who don’t even have a handle on the English language to Space Camp. (“Helping Kids Reach for the Stars,� Nov. 27). The odds against any of these kids ever being involved in space flight is about the same as any of them winning the California Lottery. When they return to school, I can imagine that there’ll be a very lively discussion concerning solid rocket boosters and inertial measurement units.

“Inside a million-dollar space shuttle simulator, computer screens flickered. A little girl in the commander’s seat seemed to shrink a little bit more in the cold glow of her instrument panels.� Couldn’t the same experience have been accomplished in the school’s parking lot seated behind the wheel of a rented Cadillac? I’m sure the kids would have been just as impressed, and they would have been involved in something that they would have a reasonable chance of driving some day.

ROBERT E. THOMPSON

Sylmar