Never Wanting The United States To Fall Behind In Space

Sputnik Launched.
"It is October 4th, 1957 and the Soviet Union inaugurates the Space Age with its launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. The spacecraft, named Sputnik after the Russian word for “satellite,” was launched at 10:29 p.m. Moscow time from the Tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic. Sputnik had a diameter of 22 inches and weighed 184 pounds and circled Earth once every hour and 36 minutes. Traveling at 18,000 miles an hour, its elliptical orbit had an apogee (farthest point from Earth) of 584 miles and a perigee (nearest point) of 143 miles. Visible with binoculars before sunrise or after sunset, Sputnik transmitted radio signals back to Earth strong enough to be picked up by amateur radio operators. Those in the United States with access to such equipment tuned in and listened in awe as the beeping Soviet spacecraft passed over America several times a day. In January 1958, Sputnik’s orbit deteriorated, as expected, and the spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere. Officially, Sputnik was launched to correspond with the International Geophysical Year, a solar period that the International Council of Scientific Unions declared would be ideal for the launching of artificial satellites to study Earth and the solar system. However, many Americans feared more sinister uses of the Soviets’ new rocket and satellite technology, which was apparently strides ahead of the U.S. space effort. Sputnik was some 10 times the size of the first planned U.S. satellite, which was not scheduled to be launched until the next year. The U.S. government, military, and scientific community were caught off guard by the Soviet technological achievement, and their united efforts to catch up with the Soviets heralded the beginning of the Space Race.”
History.com 

Why do I bring this up?

Because I believe we are at the beginning of a new

Space Race

with

China!

China aims for Moon and Mars, rivaling Us and Russia.

by SHUHEI YAMADA, Head of Nikkei's China Headquarters on NIKKEI Asian Review.com

"China is setting its eyes on the moon and Mars, announcing an ambitious program that it hopes will make it a leading space power. The goals were proclaimed in a white paper the space agency released Tuesday. The latest version of the plan, which is updated every five years, calls for launching an unmanned Mars probe in 2020, two landings on the moon with an eye on a future manned landing, and a widening of China's network of navigation satellites as part of its 21st-century Silk Road initiative. Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, Wu Yanhua, vice administrator of the China National Space Administration, said China's goal is to become one of the world's three top space powers, alongside the United States and Russia."

I applaud China's effort,

but,

in the back of my mind,

I am more leery of their overall intentions,

as the World was when

Russia launched the

Sputnik Satellite.

I applaud their efforts because I am hoping this will set in motion for the

United States

to once again do some exciting science out in space.

I was alive during the 1960s,

when we would gather around in a classroom

and watch

Apollo Missions

either take off from

Cape Canaveral,
or land in the ocean.

The launchpad is now called the

Kennedy Space Center.

Those

Astronauts

were as big as

Rock Stars

in our imagination.

Hopefully,

this effort by

China

will bring back the competition
and excitement this country seems to be lacking when exploring

Space.

This is,

Never Wanting The United States To Fall Behind In Space,

Jim Hauenstein,

And,

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

- John F. Kennedy -

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

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