While America struggles to figure out what vehicle will replace the space shuttle, China is racing ahead to build its first space station: a potential jumping off point for deeper space missions and a center for scientific research. Meanwhile Americans are dependent on other countries for access to the international space station.

Fear is growing among some Americans that China may take ownership of the moon. The notion may sound ridiculous, but with America’s space program in shambles while other nations build their programs up, America may lag behind in the race to dominate space and technology.

Up until recent years, America had been at the forefront of space exploration. After leapfrogging Russia in the space race, we were the first to put a man on the moon, and had a consistent presence in space through the shuttle program. But with the space shuttles now retired, America seems to have lost its edge in space.

Commercial space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow told an audience at the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight that America is falling behind in the space race.

“Americans are still basking in the lunar glory from 40 years ago,” Bigelow said. “But we don’t own one square foot of the damn place. NASA is a shadow of the space agency it once was in the 1960s and 1970s.

While the United States struggles with debt and calls for austerity from the right, China is flush with cash, has growing technological knowledge and has the will to move forward with space exploration. In response, Bigelow is calling for the U.S. to put just 1/10th of the money spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan toward space exploration instead.

“America would experience a rebirth of vision, excitement, science and global prestige,” Bigelow said.

With the U.S. slipping from its position of economic power, this injection of energy and national pride could be very beneficial, and would certainly be more productive than spending it on unwinnable wars.

The space program brings with it unparalleled innovation in high tech fields, and if we invest in that and ensure our domestic industries are protected, we can begin to rebuild our economic strength. The space program may seem trivial to some, but it goes hand in hand with being an economic leader.

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