ENDEAVOUR SCORES A NEEDED AND SPECTACULAR SUCCESS FOR NASA

The people at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration are understandably euphoric with the success of the shuttle Endeavour's mission, completed Monday. During the 11-day, 4.4-million-mile journey, seven astronauts met the challenge of making repairs on the Hubble Space Telescope as it remained in orbit. Despite the showmanship and technical wizardry that marked this mission, Americans and their elected representatives must remain particularly watchful about the course and cost of scientific endeavors generally, and of NASA's role specifically.

In terms of sheer functionality, as well as created and fulfilled drama, the flight of Endeavour might have been the best shuttle mission in years. Prior to the launch, NASA officials publicly outlined the goals and, by all indications, the goals were achieved. Thrown in for good measure were very telegenic spacewalks that provided enough "Buck Rogers" to sustain the nation's attention.

Still, the mission's success must be seen in an ironic context since it was necessitated by an earlier NASA failure. The Hubble telescope, a $1.6 billion investment that was 20 years in the planning stage, was launched in 1990 with a faulty mirror that prevented its full and proper use. In the aftermath of this embarrassment was borne the repair mission, which cost $629 million. Taxpayers might not share the enthusiasm of NASA, believing that regardless of the considerable benefit of the space telescope, the space agency could have saved millions of dollars by getting it right the first time.

Now is not the first time -- nor will it be the last -- that America stands at odds with itself over its commitment to science. Even this year, Congress pulled the plug on the supercollider project that had already been fed billions of tax dollars; the scientific community could never agree on the project's worth, assuming that it would work beyond the realm of theory. Scientists (not to mention politicians) can also not agree on a clear direction for space research. NASA remains committed to manned space projects, while some believe non-manned launches get more bang for the buck. Budget-conscious lawmakers question the worth of a proposed space station, which barely cleared funding in Congress this year.

The price tag for all efforts beyond the Earth's atmosphere remains high. We accept, however, that scientific research is a proper function of federal government. To what extent it takes priority on the national agenda is the arguable point.

One thing the Endeavour mission demonstrated was a heartening amount of institutional pride at NASA, which is something not always associated with federal programs. NASA remains a bureaucratic agency where morale still means something, and it is good to see that confidence restored.

With a functioning Hubble telescope, America supplies scientists with an incomparable tool for studying the mysteries of deep space. With the accomplishments, though, must come some common sense, and it is obvious that the federal treasury can't hand over a blank check for such exploration when other Earth-bound projects persist.

As Americans, all descendants of explorers, we can revel in such successes, but we should also keep in perspective that human needs can't go begging as celestial discovery takes precedence.