Buzz Aldrin advocates cooperation with China in space, NOT a new space race

Buzz Aldrin displays the kind of thinking that NASA and the U.S. in general need more of in this Op-Ed in the NY Times entitled, "Fly Me to L1": collaborative and cooperative policy as opposed to pre-emptive and confrontational policy. He suggests two important middle-grounds:

• Neither specifically choosing to make Mars or the Moon the next manned spaceflight destination. Instead, L1 (the first LaGrange point; where the gravity between the Earth and Moon equal each other to make for a stable spot in space) would make a sensible place from which to prepare for and launch missions to either or both destinations.

• It doesn't make sense to spark another space race with China. First, because such efforts are confrontational and not nearly as productive as cooperation. Second, because the Chinese manned spacecraft seems to be the next logical step in manned spaceflight after Soyuz (which does a great job of getting people where they need to be). Cooperation would allow both countries to make better use of their resources and to focus on human exploration rather than "space dominance".

A great quote from the Aldrin piece:

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Unfortunately, NASA has limited its $135 million orbital space plane development contracts to a few giants: proposals by Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. As a result, the space agency has shut the door on the smaller, entrepreneurial companies that are responsible for some of the most innovative current thinking on space technology. The farther reaching scope of an L 1 effort calls for collaboration and competition � two qualities that should be part of the cultural change NASA pledged to undertake after loss of the Columbia.

In addition, NASA might even look at a new competitor as a possible partner. The modernized, Soyuz-like manned capsule that China sent into orbit in October is potentially safer and seems technologically more robust than the Russian version. Working jointly with China would not only fill a needed gap when America's agreement with Russia on using Soyuz runs out in 2006, but it would also make a potentially important political alliance. China and America are on the verge of a new space race � with economic competition expected from Japan, Europe and perhaps India � and it is better to start off with cooperation than with confrontation.

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Posted by joebeone at Diciembre 5, 2003 01:43 AM