Obama's Plan for Science Education & the Space Program
I can't find this information on Obama's official site, but SpaceRef.com has the details of Obama's policies regarding the space program. It's an encouraging list, with an emphasis on science education, but there's nothing particularly innovative here. To be fair, the space program is not an issue of great importance in the presidential campaign, and there doesn't seem to be much difference between Obama's plan and those of the other candidates.
There is one important distinction of Obama's plan, however:
Keep Weapons out of Space: China's successful test of an anti-satellite missile in January 2007 signaled a potential new arms race in space. Barack Obama does not support the stationing of any weapons in space. He believes the international community must address the issue of space weaponization head-on and enter into a serious dialogue with Russia, China and other nations to stop this slow slide into a new battlefield.
China's pursuit of a moon-landing is indicative not just of their increasing technological capabilities, but a kind of chess move reflecting their arrival as a superpower, a global force with enough economic and military might to change the face of world politics for many decades to come. It is no coincidence that the U.S. Apollo program came at the zenith of America's power, just as we were exercising that power in all the wrong ways during the Vietnam War. Whether or not China's moon landing serves as a contribution to scientific knowledge will be of far less symbolic import than the moment a Chinese astronaut plants his/her nation's flag in the desiccated soil of our satellite, representing a true majority of this planet's inhabitants.
One of the great failures of our own space program is that we did not follow up on the achievements of the Apollo program by establishing a permanent presence on the moon or in orbit. The International Space Station is, as its name suggests, a "global" rather than a nationalistic endeavor, but if China has learned anything from us, they will pursue an idea that we abandoned and become the first nation to establish a property claim on another planetary body.
China's anti-satellite weaponry is, as Obama's plan suggests, the first step in another vital claim: the dominance over artificial satellite technology, the technology that makes cellphones, information distribution, and global communication possible. The new Cold War will be be one not only of political chilliness, but the literal coldness of the next global battlefield, near-earth orbit.
On a more prosaic note, the Obama plan, like those of the other candidates, expresses support for the completion of the ISS, but offers no explanation of how the station will be completed or maintained if the shuttle program is, as planned, mothballed in 2010. The lack of regular shuttle visits will have enormous implications for the staffing, maintenance, and stability of the station, and none of the presidential candidates have yet offered any solutions to that problem, science education support notwithstanding.
There is one important distinction of Obama's plan, however:
Keep Weapons out of Space: China's successful test of an anti-satellite missile in January 2007 signaled a potential new arms race in space. Barack Obama does not support the stationing of any weapons in space. He believes the international community must address the issue of space weaponization head-on and enter into a serious dialogue with Russia, China and other nations to stop this slow slide into a new battlefield.
China's pursuit of a moon-landing is indicative not just of their increasing technological capabilities, but a kind of chess move reflecting their arrival as a superpower, a global force with enough economic and military might to change the face of world politics for many decades to come. It is no coincidence that the U.S. Apollo program came at the zenith of America's power, just as we were exercising that power in all the wrong ways during the Vietnam War. Whether or not China's moon landing serves as a contribution to scientific knowledge will be of far less symbolic import than the moment a Chinese astronaut plants his/her nation's flag in the desiccated soil of our satellite, representing a true majority of this planet's inhabitants.
One of the great failures of our own space program is that we did not follow up on the achievements of the Apollo program by establishing a permanent presence on the moon or in orbit. The International Space Station is, as its name suggests, a "global" rather than a nationalistic endeavor, but if China has learned anything from us, they will pursue an idea that we abandoned and become the first nation to establish a property claim on another planetary body.
China's anti-satellite weaponry is, as Obama's plan suggests, the first step in another vital claim: the dominance over artificial satellite technology, the technology that makes cellphones, information distribution, and global communication possible. The new Cold War will be be one not only of political chilliness, but the literal coldness of the next global battlefield, near-earth orbit.
On a more prosaic note, the Obama plan, like those of the other candidates, expresses support for the completion of the ISS, but offers no explanation of how the station will be completed or maintained if the shuttle program is, as planned, mothballed in 2010. The lack of regular shuttle visits will have enormous implications for the staffing, maintenance, and stability of the station, and none of the presidential candidates have yet offered any solutions to that problem, science education support notwithstanding.
posted by Chazzbot at 11:38 AM
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