JAPAN POISED TO FILL VOID LEFT BY SPACE SHUTTLE’S RETIREMENT
The Japanese are filling part of the void left by the retirement of NASA's space shuttle, according to the following article.
Japanese Rocket Ferrying Supplies to Space Station
What is interesting is that the article mentions that Japan's space program has not yet successfully achieved any interplanetary probes, but this strictly speaking isn't true, as the Japanese were successful in orbiting a probe around the moon, a rather large one, in fact.
More importantly, however, the article implies the obvious for America: every other major power in the world has an up-to-date heavy lift launch platform: the Europeans, the Russians, the Chinese, India, and even Brazil now have all indicated their intentions to enter the new space race. We can rest assured that the Russians will continue their manned space missions and expand their automated probe explorations of space, and Europe, China, India and all the rest are sure to follow with their own manned missions. China has become the third major power to have its own indigenous and independent manned space program, and the others will not be far behind.
Nor is this simply a matter of national prestige. The spin-off technological benefits of space programs - one need only think of Apollo in this respect - are numerous. In some respects, the benefits are even essential components of the modern technological culture. These nations know this, and they know also that there are additional benefits in the potentiality that lost, sophisticated technologies might be found on other worlds, including our nearest neighbors.
Yet, at this juncture, the United States appears to be the one major power in the doldrums, retiring from the manned programs launched under the Bush administration and opting for a reliance upon automated probes. In my opinion, this is folly, and it is also to by-pass a golden opportunity to fix the American economy, provide genuine jobs in an area that would pay great economic and technological benefits to society. It is to by-pass a perfect opportunity for genuine biu-partisan cooperation.
One hopes that President Obama will eventually come around to see the value of a reinvogorated American space program.
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Well, what is truely troubling to me is why did we abandon our ability to travel to the moon and limit ourselves to low orbit travel for 35 years? We had two complete moon orbiters ready to go and already paid for when we abruptly quit going to the moon. Why?
That’s the $64,000,000,000,000 question
Perhaps the power elite no longer find it necessary to continue a two space program (one public; one hidden). After all, the Europeans, the Russians, the Chinese, India, and Brazil appear to have inherited the public role.
Quote: “Yet, at this juncture, the United States appears to be the one major power in the doldrums….”
Unless Bearden and Laviolette are correct about….
This approach to space exploration really puzzles me. I can.see no good reason for elite in this country to pursue this insane strategy. The only rationalization I can ccome to is that perhaps the Nazi International became powerful enough by the time of Apollo 17 that a deal was made for America to never again leave orbit with a manned program? I mean why else would thy be pursuing this madness? They scrapped Apollo.18 even though it was already scheduled and paid for.
Hoagland’s thesis that we stopped because we got what we needed isnt satisfactory in explaining our behavior since the influx of other countries into the space era. I don’t think it can be argued that our technology is so.superior that we don’t need to bother exploring any longer or educating the next generation.
So what gives? I don’t. see the Rockefeller types being that stupod to be making such mistakes. So the only.possibility I see left if that a deal was made (or if you like, an order was given).
Carroll Quigley (Tragedy and Hope fame) was working on a book when
he died, that his widow pubished. I got a copy somewhere. In this, he
examines history and concludes that (to sum it up) when the core
fails, the periphery arises, and new core civilizations arise from what
was once the peripheral or puppet or satellite whatever nations
or cultures of the original core.
Sort of like Dr. Farrell’s legacy civilization concept, only this instead
of being linear and decaying, is more circular geographically,
and involves recovery or advance in whatever the original core left
behind. This is of course Earth stuff, strictly.
So it would seem, that as the USA flounders, and perhaps God
willing does a soft landing not a disaster like interwar Germany,
the periphery peoples who were learning from us, are growing
if not geographically as usually happens, in the technology and
legal and social improvements that we have spearheaded in
the 20th centurty.