Is the U.S. interested in a new space race?

For those of you caught up in the government shutdown, the tariff war and other noteworthy business news, let me take you back to Jan. 3, 2019. On that day, and I understand if you missed it, the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) landed a lunar module and rover on the far side of the moon. According to reports, the lunar module will conduct surveys and experiments on the lunar surface. Among the experiments they will attempt is to grow potatoes (remember the movie “The Martian”) and silkworms. Who knows, in the future you may be able to purchase a silk garment made from silkworms raised on the moon.

The CNSA mission was complicated by the issues of communications with the far side of the moon. To resolve that issue, China launched a satellite into lunar orbit last year to facilitate the communications.

The United States and Russia have flown around the far side of the moon and there have been numerous missions to photograph the far side. However, the CNSA landing mission was a first ever, with a high degree of difficulty.

It was in 1957 that the Soviet satellite Sputnik became the first spacecraft to orbit the Earth. It was a different time and the competition between the United States and Russia, on a global scale, was in full effect across most fields of endeavor, from athletics to the space race.

The response to the Russian success was a declaration by then-President Kennedy that the United States would develop the capability and land a manned flight on the surface of the moon within the next decade. Mission accomplished.

To make that declaration a reality required a renewed commitment by the United States in education, science, computer technology and other areas that were tangential to the lunar mission. New technologies and products were developed. New processes were created to meet the challenges of space exploration. All of which created new businesses and jobs. Some of those businesses are still with us today.

Youngsters across the county, including yours truly, dreamed of becoming astronauts and venturing into the stars. The educational courses, now referred to as STEM, were enriched to produce a flow of engineers and scientists to accomplish the lunar mission and other technological feats which continue to benefit us on a daily basis.

I have read some of the announced plans that NASA has for the future and they are admirable. I have also read some of the announced plans that CNSA has for its future. There seems to me to be a new space race developing.

Arguably in the terms of national economies, global influence, artificial intelligence and now space exploration, the competition between the United States and China is the equivalent of the competition we had with Russia in the latter half of the 20th century. Today I do not see the response from the United States that makes me feel that competitive zeal I believe most of us felt in the 1950s and ’60s. Game on or not?

Cornell Wright is an author, trainer, consultant and an Executive Coach at The Parker Wright Group Inc. in Stratford. The firm assists clients to increase their market share by improved customer service. He can be reached at 203-377-4226 or cornell@ parkerwrightgroup.com.