It is a feat that only the United States has been able to accomplish: Landing a Man on the Moon.Communist Russia failed, and since the great space race no one else has even tried.
In fact, the United States has been sitting in the Ivory Tower of space travel so long, that many fail to see the problem with China stepping ever so close to landing a communist on the moon.
When the US beat the Soviets to the moon, there was a lasting impression that only in a free society was man capable of achieving the impossible. Russia gave up their lunar ambitions, and within 20 years they ceased to exist as a communist led society.
Fast forward to the 21st century, where China is making all the appropriate advancements in their plan to permanently inhabit the moon. Today they will launch a lunar orbiter, proving that they have the capability to at least get to and orbit the moon. And with their space program cloaked in secrecy, they could be just a few years away from planting a flag of an oppressed people on the surface of the moon.
Remember, the US left a plaque on the moon which stated that our journey was for all men... the significance of this plaque was that it represented the heights to which free men could travel... and now that we are sitting idly by and watching, let alone providing help (Thanks Bill Clinton - Ass), and who knows what this could mean.
In fact, working on the current US moon program myself, I take issue that we are slipping schedule and focusing so much time and energy on the ISS. We are unloading a significant amount of time and energy on a way station that serves little to open the expanses of space to the next generation of explorers. I compare it to Columbus rowing a dingy around the harbor instead of sailing across the Atlantic.
When the US fails to dream big, we fail... period.
This is a case where the ambition of an oppressive entity is greater than the drive for being the best from a free society.
So perhaps this means that the America that existed just 50 years ago no longer exists. Are we no longer up to the challenge of proving the superiority of a Free Society? Are we even still a free society, or are we bogged down with suspicion and corruption... the legacy of freedom?
Think long and hard about what we are giving up in allowing China to have dominance in the new Moon Race... leave a comment... and perhaps, if you think the implications are as I have stated, give your government representatives a call and tell them to Make Space a Priority!
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