China’s Sputnik?
It’s gonna get crowded up there. In space, I mean. On the moon in particular. And the key to it all may be soon-to-be-former Congressman Tom DeLay. I thought it was down to the U.S. and Sweden in the latest lap of the "space race." But it looks like there’s one more player entering the arena. I checked my RSS reader this afternoon, and found out via NASA Watch that China has plans for space exploration to the moon and beyond.
A top Chinese space official on Monday described China’s ambitious exploration plans, including robotic Moon missions starting next year.
Beyond Moon missions, including a flight to collect and return lunar samples to Earth in 2017, the Chinese space agency plans to develop a nonpolluting launch vehicle that can lift 55,000 pounds (25,000 kg) into orbit by 2010, said Luo Ge, a vice administrator at the Chinese National Space Administration.
"Space is a high-risk investment," Luo said through a translator at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank. "China as a developing country is limited and constrained by its funding for more ambitious programs."
But Luo says China has an edge because of the progress of its space program, the country’s "openness" — citing its work with countries like Russia, Nigeria, and Brazil — and because the U.S. has grown more closed since the 1990s. The Write Stuff, space blog of the Orlando Sentinel’, points to a story that repeats Luo’s claims and notes the successes of China’s space program, including a manned spaceflight last October.
But is there anything to China’s claims? And How does Tom DeLay figure into all of this?
Jeff of Space Politics reminds us that none other than Tom Delay warned just a week ago that the U.S. is in a "space race" with China, and even called China’s space program "a 21st century Sputnik moment".
I’m not sure I buy that comparison, as it sounds like a bit of hyperbole to me. After all, Luo even noted that China’s $500 space budget is barely bus fare compared to NASA’s $16.6 billion. But then again NASA is losing a powerful backer in Tom Delay, and having to pinch pennies for the moon mission even as scientists are clamoring for more.
Plus Jeff also speculates that, since he called for a special oversight hearing on NASA’s human space space program during a congressional hearing last week, the Chinese space program might be one reason for DeLay’s 2-month "delay" in actually leaving office. Maybe ensuring NASA stays well head of China’s"sputnik" will be DeLay’s swan song.
I suppose Jeff could be right. After all, just last week I thought Sweden was America’s biggest competitor in space. They don’t call me NooBee (i.e. "newbie) for nothin’, folks.
