R: Restart the Space Race

In the 1966-1969 television series Star Trek, Captain James T. Kirk introduces every episode with the words, "Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before!" These iconic lines show how profoundly space exploration captured the American imagination at a time when Manifest Destiny and memories of the Western frontier were still prominent in America's psyche. Throughout the 1960s, the United States duelled the Soviet Union in the Space Race, a Cold War battle of scientific and military prowess. In the 21st century, however, space exploration has become an afterthought in domestic politics, leaving behind a legacy of the Apollo program, International Space Station, and Space Shuttle as mere curiosities for America's schoolchildren to look upon in distant wonder.

As America has discarded its fascination with space, China's increasingly ambitious space program has kindled nationalistic zeal among its people. Now, for the first time in decades, America has a potential rival for dominance in space. Should the US make its space program a national priority again, as President Kennedy did? Should the federal government increase funding towards space-related scientific research and military projects, even at the expense of budget items like education or infrastructure? How vigorously should the US and allied countries police research institutions for potential Chinese espionage? Some would argue that America should direct its efforts and attention towards issues that are closer-to-home, like a failing education system, crumbling transportation infrastructure, and national health crisis. Others might worry that a new Space Race could revive a modernist view of humanity as nature's conqueror rather than its steward.