New Delhi, Aug. 8 -- "Didn't I promise you the moon?" That's what a harried-looking Uncle Sam is seen telling protestors in a cartoon published in a US newspaper on 20 May 1969, two months before Apollo 11 landed on the moon. In Frankie Morse's drawing, Uncle Sam stands under our only natural satellite, emblazoned with "US Space Feats" on its dark side. Placards on planet earth yelled 'end the war,' with street crowds drawing attention to disarmament, pollution, human needs, inflation, law-and-order, urban crises and so on.

Things seem to have come full circle.

Fifty-six years on, as the US plans to set up a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030, the cartoon's message has a familiar ring. With some variations and updates, that litany of c...