You’re right. Our moon project was a government entity from start to finish. However, our efforts in the space race were seen as the fruits of a capitalist system, just as the Soviets’ efforts were seen as the fruits of a socialist system.

Um .. capitalism vs. communism ? actually .. not exactly. Both behemots handed the task to their socialist state enterprises. US did not invoke the power of free market forces, and thus up to the flight of SS1 we were stuck in the world where spaceflight belonged to governments alone.
Well, luckily, many decades later, this mistake is being corrected.

Good news is not reported simply because it does not sell papers or ad time on TV. Look at the local paper – the column inches of local, national and international news is but a tiny fraction compared to the population of your community, your nation or the world. Optimism breeds positive results.

Thank you!

There are many contests that could be set up involving carbon nanotubes. Prizes could be awarded for any of the following:

1. For the first logic circuit constructed entirely from carbon nanotubes to do some prescribed mathematical chore like calculate pi to a certain digit.

2. For the first carbon nanotube to reach a certain length.

3. For the first carbon nanotube that exhibits a certain strength.

4. For the invention of a process that lowers the cost of carbon nanotube production to a certain price per a certain length.

5. For the production of a cable made entirely of carbon nanotubes of a certain diameter and a certain length and a certain strength.

6. For the use of carbon nanotubes in quantum computing.

7. For the use of carbon nanotubes in targeted drug delivery.

8. The use of carbon nanotubes in a bulletproof jacket of a certain thinness, with the ability to stop a projectile of certain density, shape, and speed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotubes