ANALYSIS – The space race between the United States and Communist China is the most critical race almost no one is talking about.
Well, I’ve talked about it quite a bit and written about it here, here and here.
And in that race, one of the biggest military goals, beyond controlling the space in and around Earth, is to control the moon, or at least important parts of it.
But other than a few of our military space experts, and some others ‘baying at the moon,’ this dangerous race is getting very little play in our establishment media.
And that is a serious problem, since they should be sounding the alarm every day.
Because in order to win the race and the moon, we need to get there first. And that requires political will and public support.
Thankfully, former president Donald Trump took space seriously and pushed through the creation of our sixth and newest military service – the Space Force in 2019.
Trump also pushed hard to accelerate the timeline to get American ‘boots on the moon,’ setting a target year for NASA of 2024.
Sadly, since Joe Biden’s term began, space has been far less important in the overall agenda, and the goal of again landing Americans on the Moon by 2024 has slipped to 2026 or 2025 at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the Chinese are shooting for having their own ‘taikonauts’ on the moon before 2030.
In its latest funding bill made by the Democrat-controlled Congress and signed by POTUS, the U.S. civilian space agency did not get all the funding it requested.
China, however, is pushing forward, trying to get their Chinese boots on the moon first.
And this is incredibly serious for the United States because he who gets there first wins the prize.
And that prize is control over strategic portions of the moon, and its significant and rare mineral resources, and its ability to provide self-sustaining bases to impact our ability to control the space around Earth in times of war.
That space is vital to American warfighting, and losing that space would likely mean the U.S. losing any future war on Earth.
China could even block American communications or even access to the moon entirely if it has enough of a head start.
These concerns come on the heels of the long-delayed, but ultimately successful recent launch of NASA’s 26-day Artemis I mission, where an uncrewed Orion space capsule flew around the moon and returned to earth safely.
This is the first big step toward NASA’s plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface for the first time since December 1972 (exactly 50 years ago) and then begin building a more permanent human presence there for the first time ever.
Still, despite the recent Artemis I success, NASA’s top administrator, former Senator Bill Nelson, continues to sound the alarm about China’s efforts in the space race, and in an interview with Politico, warns that a Chinese win could result in the communist country claiming to “own” vast swaths of the moon.
Nelson said of China, “…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.’”
He added, “If you doubt that [they would do this], look at what they did [building military bases] with the Spratly Islands [in the South China Sea].”
And as we dawdle in space, Politico continues:
…looming ever-larger is China’s aggressive space program, including its recent opening of a new space station. Beijing has announced a goal of landing taikonauts on the moon by the end of this decade. In December, China’s government laid out its vision for more ambitious endeavors such as building infrastructure in space and creating a space governance system.
Any significant delays or mishaps in the U.S. program, which is counting on a series of new systems and equipment that are still under development, could risk falling behind the Chinese. And [as I noted above] NASA’s moon-landing timeline has already slipped a year from the Trump administration.
Politico adds:
“It’s entirely possible they could catch up and surpass us, absolutely,” Space Force Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno said last month during a visit to Australia as China was launching its 10th crew to its Shenzhou space station. “The progress they’ve made has been stunning — stunningly fast.”
The most recent Pentagon report to Congress on China’s military developments highlighted numerous quantum leaps for the Chinese space program.
These included China’s unmanned outpost on the far side of the moon and also its new ability to set up a communications relay from there using a satellite that was launched in 2021.
While the U.S. is working hard to get back on the moon, we need to move faster. This effort really should be on the level of the Manhattan Project, which developed the atom bomb in WWII.
As famed Confederate General Nathan Bedford once said, the key to victory in war is getting there “firstest with the mostest.”
And the moon is no exception. We need to get back there first. ALD
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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When the PRC claimed rocks in the South China Sea as “sovereign China” because some ancient Chinese junk wrecked on the rock 1200 years ago, the USA should have claimed the moon as a US territory. Still should.
Need to privitize Space efforts & boost Space Force
We won that race decades ago. This is the race to militaries the moon!
“But other than a few of our military space experts, and some others ‘baying at the moon,’ this dangerous race is getting very little play in our establishment media.”
Our Democrat-sucking media is the biggest threat to America and the world right now. Above and beyond everything else.