The Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) recently made headlines by successfully landing a lunar module on the dark side of the moon. Chang’e 4 is part of an ongoing Chinese scientific expedition to the moon; it uses lunar rovers to measure surface temperatures and collect rock samples.
The effects of the Cold War are still being felt in some international activities today. The U.S.-Soviet Union competition affected how all countries interacted in the international arena.
National security experts recognize that there are pivotal points when a nation must choose between disaster and surrender or triumph and victory.
For the past 35 years, the U.S. Air Force Space Command has been responsible for protecting our nation’s space operations and resources.
When the space age began, the opportunities to access space were limited to only a few nations and there were limited consequences for bad behavior. The special nature of space as a sphere of civilian and military activity continues to draw increasing interest as more countries develop and enhance their space programs.
Earth is one of an estimated 1024 (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) planets in the observable universe. The odds that our world is the only one suitable for life are astronomical – pun intended.
The race is on for mining not only precious minerals but also building out a security force to keep our technology, and our place among the stars, safe from the unknown.