Hey, a newbie here. Just joined sciforums, and I like it a lot. For my first post let me run little theory by you. Please feel free to shoot it down in anyway Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I'm sure you have all heard that China will have its first men in space (3 to be exact) sometime within the next two years. Beyond that, China will begin development of its docking system, eventually for a Chinese space station. China's reasons for being the third county in space are speculated to be partly for national pride, as well as for military development in space (the Chinese space program is run jointly with the Chinese military). Besides an obvious cold war like arms race in space that could develop between China and the United States, I could see another space race unfolding. As both superpowers struggle to show the world and each other which is more powerful and technically advanced, I imagine we could see a lot of "the first to's" in the not so distant future. Even if there is no arms race in space, China is likely continue its development in space in the efforts to show its "supremacy" as a super power. The United States would react to Chinas efforts in a defensive way, just as it found the Soviet Union's accomplishments in space to be threatening during the cold war. If my theory is correct and there will be a space race of the 21st century, we would witness a lot of amazing developments in space. Not so much research and exploration, but rather "mega projects" A race to put the first man on mars, or even more far fetched, the first permanent colony on the moon. Of course developments like that would happen over many years and most likely decades. Of course my theory assumes that there will always be a sense of insecurity and hostility between China and the US. But isn’t insecurity just a natural by-product of two powerful people or countries existing at one time? :bugeye: Edit: let me add, I'm not claiming this as my theory. I'm sure other people have thought of it.
By that time I'll be able to vote and legally own a gun....the president that starts a space race is going down....... Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I don't agree with you. Hopefully the US government won't take China's space program as a threat to the American people. Even if they did, there would have to be a gigantic campaign to get the American people to give two sh*ts about being the first to do something in space. National pride in China is very different from what Westerns consider it as. The US economy isn't doing as well as many would like it to. Space programs cost big bucks and then there's this "War on terrorism" which is has to be funded. And this "war" isn't going to have a definant end. The US blew it's chance to get rid of the national debt and now it's increasing. The government is stupid enough to raise the debt even more and kill the economy totally. But if something huge happens between China and the US there could be a change in direction to where the money would flow. I don't think a cold war would start because back in the day the Russians were labled as "evil" and the American people believed it. For such an expenditure, the American people have to be supporting the government. To try and label the Chinese as being evil would be almost impossible in this day and age. Two superpowers don't always have to be at each other's throats. The criticism of the US being imperialistic and reaching too far is becoming more of an issue and the government doesn't want to convey that message. To start a space race would be "political suicide" for the entire US government.
First, welcome to the forums! Personally, I wouldn't mind a new space race. The future of humanity is space. If we wait for everything to be peachy on earth before launching into space, well, we'll be stuck on this rock till we're wiped out by the next big impact. A better space program sure as hell would be a better use for our money than making even more powerful weapons to kill people in third world countries. Of course since theres a war on, it would be crazy to reduce the military budget, right? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Instead of getting yet another stealth bomber or attack helicopter, why not spend the money on something that will actually help us? Although more space exploration would be cool, that doesn't even need to be what we use it for! How about education? Frankly, I see a lot more good coming from something like that than a war machine... Just my opinion though. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
China's plans to expand militarily into to space will defiantly set off alarms in Washington. Even if there is no arms race, the United States will not so easily give up its domination, or superiority. And China will not so easily stand below the US. A space race is not about what the general public wants, rather it is about a battle between showing the other whose more powerful I beg to differ. We are labeling Iraq evil, North Korea is labeled evil. Iran is also part of the "Axis of Evil". To label communist(I know its evolving) china under the Axis of evil would be remarkably easy. The tensions between the US and China already exist. Think back to the US spy plane and Chinese jet fighter crash incident. The majority of Americans is practically mindless, and take it in by the spoonful. The US doesn’t seem too worried about being labeled imperialistic. Its seems pretty determined to topple Iraq, regardless of what evidence is revealed, because oil is what they are really after. I'm also talking 20 years down the road, when China has or is surpassing the US economically.
The American government is influenced by it's people. The people won't stand for NASA to start getting it's budget increased by tens of billions dollars just to show off to China. Iraq is a complicated situation, and we are able to label them "evil" because of it's past actions. They were dangerous in the past. Same with North Korea. They have been a problem in the past but unlike Iraq, they have been cooperative in the recent past. China has relatively stayed away from the United States' business in dealing with military forgein affairs. And the "Axis of Evil" is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of...supposedly it's meant to blend with Bush's "good, clean family morals" image. I agree with you that Washington will be interested in what they put up there and what they plan to do. What makes you think the US won't want to let other countries explore space and put up some spy satellites? Doesn't China already have spy satellites, I'm not sure though. Communism in China is different than what the USSR was. As you pointed out, it's evolving to be less restrictive to it's people. People are more informed about government types and if China and the US become rivals, people won't start calling communism evil like the past cold war. It's becoming harder and harder for the government to control what the people believe about the outside world because of the means of communication that's available today. The project of the ISS was meant to bring unity to space. Partly because space programs are becoming too expensive for what they're worth and to level the playing field in space, it gives countries other than the US and Russia to have access to a space station. If Iraq had done nothing wrong, they wouldn't be trying to get at the oil. The situation with Iraq is because they have been doing "things" they are prohibited to do over there, oil is not the cause of the situation...it's a reason to push for it, but if you live in the US, you would be "happy" that there is one less unpredictable leader that has reasons to harm or contribute to harming your country. I would not like to discuss Iraq in this thread though. Nova: Everyone has got an opinion on where to put the money. I totally agree that it could be put to a better cause, but then again the environmentalists want the money to go to protecting Earth....people like you want it to go to creating a home away from earth. I wouldn't count Earth out because compared to other planets....we have everything we need right here and most importantly we have an excess of water. We known more about our planet than we do about space. But everyone has their opinions.
It doesn't seem like there are any big payoffs for massive space projects at the moment. What would be the point of going to Mars or putting a colony on the moon, aside from the 'coolness factor'? Personally I've never bought the argument that we need to jump into space to avoid extinction from a killer asteroid. Even if earth were really badly smashed by a big space rock, it would still be much easier to build your domed city (or whatever) on earth than it would be to survive in space or on another planet. I also don't think that the Americans have any reason to feel insecure about their dominance of space. NASA went to the moon and is the only group in the world with a reusable launch vehicle. It will be a very long time before the Chinese can come close to boasting either one.
Welcome to sciforums, Mr.Roboto. It is a nice thought you have there. One that I would love to see. I am afraid that it will take a while before the other major powers capable of launching into space see China as a technological threat. China has a ways to go to catch up. Much has been done for them that they will have access to and will not have to preform experiments for themselves. All they have to have is access to the internet for some of it. Other parts, they will have to do themselves. The US has a lot of money demands going on right now and the whole NASA thing has taken the back burner for a while. Maybe it will change on day but I do not see it as happening soon.
