Bill Nelson Is Worried About A Chinese Moon

Keith’s note: I am trying to wrap my head around this thing that NASA Administrator Senator Bill Nelson keeps saying. Is the State Department putting him up to this? They do not seem to be doing any arm waving about it. Just Nelson. Oddly I do not seem to see anyone else saying it – except in some articles in China who think that America is trying to do the same thing in reaction to Bill Nelson making these claims.

According to ‘We’re in a space race’: Nasa sounds alarm at Chinese designs on moon published by the Guardian “The US is locked in a space race with China and the country needs to “watch out” that its rival does not gain a foothold and try to dominate lunar resources, Nasa’s top official has warned. The assessment came from the Nasa administrator, Bill Nelson, a former astronaut and Florida senator, who went on to warn that China could eventually claim to “own” the moon’s resource-rich areas.The contest between the US and China, he added, was intensifying and the next two years could determine which country achieves an advantage. “It is a fact: we’re in a space race,” Nelson told Politico. “And it is true that we better watch out that they don’t get to a place on the moon under the guise of scientific research. And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, ‘Keep out, we’re here, this is our territory.’

You cannot really have an actual “space race” without at least 2 participants – and they both need to want there to be a “race”, right? So what is China going to do? Put military assets in place in space to shoot down anyone they do not like who wants to go to the Moon? We heard this loony idea come and go during the Cold War. Russia landed the first object on the Moon and we sent humans there to plant a flag half a dozen times – half a century ago. We have found a way to work collaboratively in Antarctica for a century despite century old imperialistic claims.

If we are going to adapt our space policy to reflect our terrestrial political realities then we should throw Russia out of the ISS program right now. But we won’t. Instead we cooperate with the brutal invaders of Ukraine – in space – in a mostly peaceful and cooperative fashion – on the ISS. Maybe how we behave in space can teach us a lesson on how to get along on Earth.

Besides, if Nelson was truly hot and bothered by the notion that China will got to the Moon – soon – and close the doors – then you’d think that he’d want to get the U.S back there as soon as possible using all of the tools at his disposal. Guess again. Instead Nelson has clung to the creaky Apollo 2.0 SLS/Artemis architecture with its vast cost overruns, decade-long delays, and flight rate that is positively anemic. For a nation that wants to have a strong presence on the lunar surface so as to thwart all competitors (China) this is exactly the wrong approach to take.

Just sayin’