The Challenge of China's Lunar Lander

American Thinker ^ | 01/08/2019 | Daniel John Sobieski

[SeekAndFind]

It has been nearly 50 years since an American became the first human being to walk on the Moon and plant the U.S. flag. Judging from the successful landing of China's Chang'e-4 probe on the far side of the Moon and China's ambitious plans, including military ones, it may not be that long before a Chinese astronaut picks up that flag and brings it back to us.

We have our own plans, to be sure, and that includes President Trump's already underway U.S. Space Force, yet we still are paying the price for the overreliance on private enterprise to do what needs to be done in space for both national security and, yes, national pride.

Privatization has a role to play in space exploration, hopefully a more robust role than supplying the International Space Station with toilet paper using reusable booster rockets. Yet the fact that it has been 50 years since we planted our flag on the lunar surface is a telling indictment of privatization of space. We should already have a base on the Moon getting the guest rooms ready or the Chinese instead of hitching rides into space with the Russkis.

SpaceX has done nice things, if you consider reinventing the wheel instead of building on past success. When Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon, we already had a heavy-lift booster in the Saturn V, a lunar spacecraft in the Apollo, with follow-on spacecraft and a reusable transport, the Space Shuttle in the pipeline.

Some people are free marketers warning of how government can muck things up, and it can, but when we needed an atomic bomb or a lunar landing, government didn't just ask for bids from private contractors. It made things happen.

[neverevergiveup]

My biggest worry in any kind of technology race with China is that no matter what we innovate - China will be able to essentially steal it from us. China has been sending people from mainland China to the US or decades, to train here. Many wind up in technology jobs in the US (from biotech to all manner of engineering). I won't paint with a broad brush, but clearly some of them are here to spy. Our society is so open that it makes it very difficult to prevent this kind of technology theft.

[DoodleBob]

I take strong issue with this writer's assertion that...

The death of U.S. astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, was a reminder of an era of American exceptionalism that seems to exist only, just like the U.S. Space Shuttle, in museums.

Really? This Nation continues to punch above its weight economically - we comprise 4% of the planet"s population but we crank out appx 25% of global GDP with innovations all the time like iPhones, social media - and we remain in the vanguard of lots of other things. This nation faces fiscal challenges and illegal immigration problems and enemies within but Trump - who is exceptional - is leading the Nation AND the world on a non-globalist way to tackle these problems.

But because we've moved on from Buzz Lightyear, the federal employee, as a toy of choice, we aren't exceptional? Indeed, while our men in the moon were in the military, many moved in to the private sector... Maybe we SHOULD be more proud of NASCAR racers and Silicon Valley being the poster children of Exceptionalism vs John McCain RIP who STAYED in government.

[RedStateRocker]

Yes, we had the tech in Apollo, but I think there was an underlying belief that the proper role of government was, like in the West, to invest in opening up the frontier but that private enterprise was the proper way to exploit it. As awesome as the Saturn 5 was, the cost per pound of getting anything out of the gravity well was immense and unsustainable on the scale we need.

I still think that serious tax and other incentives to any and all American companies that exploit space is the best investment. I know some hope for Jesus to come back and wrap this all up, but many of us view the only hope for the future in expanding the human race past the confines of this planet.

There are immense resources for us out there and whilst some of my friends and relatives are waiting for the Rapture, I want to see asteroids strip mined to build colony ships.

[marron]

He takes a slap at Elon Musk who is building reusable rockets, including heavy lifters. Yes, we already built heavy lifters. But we also haven’t been back to the moon since I was a kid. And I’m getting pretty old now.

[itsahoot]

China will be able to essentially steal it from us.

They might even be able to get a spy assigned to a key Senators staff? Nah, not possible or we would have heard about it endlessly.

[neverevergiveup]

Unbelievable, isn't it? Thanks for reminding me. After the initial news broke, I haven't heard anything more. But these are the ‘morally superior’ Democrats we're talking about, and Feinstein is sooooo ethical..