NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is seen during a spacewalk during Expedition 50 aboard the International Space Station. Whitson and fellow NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough successfully installed three new adapter plates and hooked up electrical connections for three of the six new lithium-ion batteries on the International Space Station in this undated photo. NASA/Handout
Martand Jha, National Interest: A New Space Race?
After a long time, the issue of outer space affairs is assuming a central position in the discourse of both national and international security.
On December 11, Donald Trump signed a new space policy directive which instructs NASA to focus on sending humans to the moon. The last time the United States sent its astronauts to the moon was way back in December 1972 during the Apollo 17 mission. After a gap of forty-five years, the United States is looking forward to a manned lunar mission.
Speaking at the signing ceremony of this this new space policy directive, President Trump said that this policy was the first step taken “to restore American leadership in space.”
While reflecting how long it has been since a U.S. astronaut has been on the moon, Trump thanked his guest Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, one of the last Americans to be on the moon, and announced that he will not be the last one to be there.
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WNU Editor: I grew up when the "Space Race" meant something. Today .... the excitement is not there.
Wnu agreed. Plus NASAs efforts will be dwarfed by the private sector both in size (spending/revenue) and ambition (space tourism by next year and colonisation of mars by 2030). Being in NASA is cool and all but the future investments is with SpaceX and the like. NASA and the USA need to re-learn how to think big. Going back to the moon might be an essential step (the basics) before doing the big ticket items. The question is also:in absence of a true class M planet in reachable distance with current technology, what else shall we do in our solar system? Harvest precious metals would be an obvious one but not sure if it's on their radar - likely private sector will do that
ReplyDeleteI more or less agree with Anon. Look at the history of exploration and settlement. You have the Magellans, De Gamas, Columbus, Berings, etc, but they just always barely "got there" and "there" wasn't always very well known (to address the absence of a class M planet). It was the business guys who came not much later that made the trips somewhat ho hum and possible for the multitude of lower class people to start to move.
ReplyDeleteWe've been to the moon, so going back isn't that big a deal, it's challenges of long missions that now must be tackled. Technology developed to deal with challenges of propulsion, protection (radiation etc), biology, and many more. It's like we are on one side of a door that is closed. We've peeked through the keyhole, but have not opened it. It's like 1475 all over again, we know there is something else, but what and all the ways to get there no, not until we open the door get on the boat and sail.
This space policy seem useless and misguided effort . NASA should lead in space frontier , exploration deep space , new tech for rocket engine , human habitat in planets and space technology , while leaving the application for private companies .people forget that the technology used by private sector was developed by NASA ( yes even reusable rocket ) .
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