Chinese space dominance?

There is an interesting bit on CNN, nominally categorized as election news, which considers US space resources for the next president, and promotes the idea that China will surpass US space dominance by the end of the next president's next term. I am inclined to consider this fear-mongering, or at the very least fishing for a story, and the inclusion of a quote by Bob Zubrin sort of solidifies it for me.

I am a pretty big fan of Zubrin, but I think he has a tendency to exaggerate in order to get people to listen to him (perhaps that is a necessity when discussing the space program). Speaking of the Chinese, Zubrin had this to say:

"And we're standing still. If we continue to stand still, by the middle of the next decade, their space program will be superior to ours and they'll be moving on to the moon and Mars, while we're ... looking back on our former greatness," he said.

That is a gross exaggeration, because up to now, the Chinese have basically been repurposing Russian space technology. I don't think the Chinese have shown definitively they can create their own technology, and they would need to do that in order to put people on the Moon or Mars.

I support the space program, and I want it to succeed compared to the programs of the Russians and the Chinese, but I don't think screaming about the sky falling is the way to do it. At least I hope it isn't.

Obama Wants to Kill Space Exploration

It's official (check out this article for a good commentary) -- and sad. It doesn't stop me from supporting him for President (which I do), and i certainly agree that the current state of the space program isn't very inspiring, but putting space exploration completely on hold until "the mission is clearer" makes absolutely no sense -- he's basically arguing that we should stop working on the problem because we don't have a good solution yet. That makes no sense. Space and space exploration is one of the hottest topics in science today, and relegating it to the "not inspiring" category -- by someone who says he's all about inspiration -- seems completely myopic. If he wants inspiration and change in the status quo, he should see NASA and the whole space exploration effort as the perfect opportunity for re-invigoration, not cancellation.

And pitting it against pre-K education programs?? Of course it's going to lose -- another victim of a standard Washington budgeting ploy, by someone who says he wants to change the system. If he compared the budget of the space program with other long-term exploration science goals (things like particle colliders, deep sea exploration, etc.), and then justified his position based on a clear ranking of each of these goals and the overall budget plan for exploration science in general, I would at least respect his decision. Instead, by weaseling out he looks like he's trying to sweep it under the rug like any other politician. And that's just sad.