'We better watch out': NASA chair warns that the US/China 'space race' will only intensify
During the 1960s and 1970s, the term “Space Race” was used to describe space exploration by the United States versus space exploration by the Soviet Union. Even space exploration, in those days, underscored the Cold War tensions between the two superpowers.
But the Soviet Union ceased to exist in the early 1990s, and Russia no longer has a communist government, but rather, a right-wing crony capitalist government that is called the Russian Federation and is led by President Vladimir Putin. Now, the term “Space Race” is being used to describe a different competition: one between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China.
Former Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who now chairs National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), used the term “Space Race” when interviewed for an article published by Politico on New Year’s Day 2023.
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Nelson told Politico, “It is a fact: we’re in a space race. 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.’”
By “they,” Nelson was referring to the authoritarian government in Beijing, which — despite still calling itself the People’s Republic of China — has long since replaced Maoist communism with its own brand of crony capitalism.
Politico’s Bryan Bender explains, “The race to the moon between the United States and China is getting tighter, and the next two years could determine who gains the upper hand. So says NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who warns that Beijing could establish a foothold and try to dominate the most resource-rich locations on the lunar surface — or even keep the U.S. out.”
Nelson, who was voted out of office when he lost to now-Sen. Rick Scott in Florida’s 2018 U.S. Senate race, believes that Mainland China’s imperialism includes space exploration.
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The ex-senator told Politico, “China, within the last decade, has had enormous success and advances. It is also true that their date for landing on the moon keeps getting closer and closer.”
According to Bender, “Nelson’s hawkish comments follow NASA’s 26-day Artemis I mission, in which an uncrewed Orion space capsule flew around the moon. That mission, widely regarded as a success, was the first big step toward NASA’s plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface to begin building a more permanent human presence — which could come as early as 2025…. But 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…. 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.”
Retired Air Force Col. Terry Virts, who formerly served as commander of the International Space Station and Space Shuttle, shares Nelson’s concerns.
“On one level,” Virts told Politico, “it is a political competition to show whose system works better. What they really want is respect as the world’s top country. They want to be the dominant power on Earth, so going to the moon is a way to show their system is working. If they beat us back to the moon, it shows they are better than us.”
Virts believes that “there is potentially mischief China can do on the moon.”
Virts told Politico, “If they set up infrastructure, there they could potentially deny communications, for example. Having them there doesn’t make things easier. There is real concern about Chinese meddling.”
