In 1962, President John F. Kennedy called to put a man on the Moon by decade’s end, and to “shift our efforts in space from low to high gear.” Clearly, the U.S. met his challenge; however, he was addressing a world very different from that of today. As he also said in his speech, “There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet.”
We are in a new Space Race, where one key event is being the first to establish an occupied lunar camp. The Chinese and Russians have invited international partners to participate in their lunar base, which has an ambitious timeline. They expect to see site selection by 2025, a decade of construction, and then full operation after 2036. Counter this with the lethargic and slipping timeline of the U.S.’s effort to return a person to the Moon by 2024. This is not a race that the Western world can lose. The country that arrives first will get to lead the discussion on the norms of interplanetary life—consider how the internet would be different if China had established initial norms.
To compete in this renewed Space Race, including the entirety of the U.S. government is critical. NASA is the lead, but there is a greatly overlooked opportunity within the federal government that should provide more consultation to the program, and that could do so without requiring the development of new programs: the Department of Defense (DoD). While the Outer Space Treaty says the Moon and celestial bodies shall be used for “exclusively peaceful purposes” and “the establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications … shall be forbidden,” it also says “military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purpose shall not be prohibited.” Therefore, the use of military personnel, expeditionary experiences, and knowledge to assist NASA in planning and executing a lunar base are well within the confines of what’s considered the peaceful use of…
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