China's space program: phantom menace or new hope?
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It's the silly season in the US. So it's no surprise, just a disappointment, that some of the US legislators, especially the Republicans set to retake Congress, are again sharpening their sword and sticking it to China.
I'm not talking about exchange rates, jobs, the environment or human rights, but something more deadly serious: the future of the final frontier. It's Star Wars season in Washington and the US empire is striking back.
This silliness is only eclipsed by the stupidity of timing the visit this week to China of former astronaut and now National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) head, Charlie Bolden so close to election day.
The visit was reportedly agreed by Chinese Presidents Hu Jintao and US President Barack Obama when they met last November, but I can't believe that the visit had to be scheduled at a time that provides a clear opportunity for China-bashers in the US.
Already three Republican congressmen who sit on the committee that controls NASA's budget have risen to the occasion. Two are part of the attack of the clowns that is the "Tea Party."
The third is long-time China-basher and ironically appropriately named Congressman Frank Wolf. This Wolf can do real damage when he howls, however, because it is likely that come January he will chair the appropriations subcommittee that determines just how much money NASA gets.
The trio chastised Bolden for coming here at all, since space-ventures with China have not been approved by Congress.
As Wolf wrote, "It should go without saying that NASA has no business cooperating with the Chinese regime of human spaceflight. China is taking an increasingly aggressive posture globally, and their interests rarely intersect with ours."
