China’s Space Program Eclipsing That of the U.S.?

As the U.S. launches its next-to-last shuttle mission, China announces its planned space station. So begins another episode of the space race, except this time the U.S. seems to be dropping out. Is prowess in space still a symbol of national power?

With space shuttle Endeavour set to launch Friday, April 29, on its last mission, most U.S. media reports seem focused on the mission commander and his wife.

The New York Times reported, “Capt. Mark E. Kelly, the commander of the space shuttle Endeavour, said Tuesday that his wounded wife, Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, was ‘more than medically ready’ to travel to Florida for the launching. …

“‘It’s something she’s been looking forward to for a long time,’ he told reporters gathered here for the launching, scheduled for 3:47 p.m. Friday. ‘She’s been working really hard so that her doctors would permit her to come.’”

Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head in an assassination attempt in Tucson Jan. 8, and she has been making a valiant recovery in a Houston rehabilitation hospital for the last three months. Hers is a touching human interest story that understandably takes precedence over the 134th launch of a shuttle or even the fact that the U.S. president plans to be at the launch.

But since it is the second-to-last launch of America’s only manned space vehicle, with no replacement in sight, this isn’t just another launch. It can be taken as a symbol of declining U.S. status in the world. Consider the irony as the U.S.—winner of the race to the moon—now becomes dependent on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft for future missions to the International Space Station. And as China boldly moves forward with its space program.

China, in addition to its plans to land on the moon in the next two years, announced this week a plan for a space station of its own.

A “potent political symbol”

The Sydney Morning Herald reported, “China has laid out plans for its future in space, unveiling details of an ambitious new space station to be built and in orbit within a decade.

“The project, unveiled yesterday, was described as a ‘potent political symbol’ by one NASA adviser. It is the latest phase in China’s rapidly developing space program, less than a decade since China put a human into orbit” (“China Seems to Be Running in Space Race on Its Own,” April 28, 2011).

What does the United States, the long-time leader in space, have to say about this shift in the balance of power?

“John Logsdon, a NASA adviser, said China’s plans would give it homegrown expertise in human space flight. ‘China wants to say: “We can do everything in space that other major countries can do,”’ he said. ‘A significant, and probably visible, orbital outpost transiting over most of the world would be a potent political symbol.’”

The head of the space station program at the European Space Agency more tactfully called the Chinese plan “competition,” claiming that “competition always pushes you to be better.” Bernardo Patti also said, “China is a big country. … They are getting richer and richer. They want to establish themselves as key players.”

But as the Sydney Morning Herald headline implied, this time the United States doesn’t seem to see the need for a new Sputnik moment to push its innovation and funding into high gear. The overstretched U.S. seems to be conceding the race and leaving future leadership in space to others.

Could this be another sign of what God called breaking the “pride of your power” (Leviticus 26:19)?

Laws and consequences

Rocket science is based on the law that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Astronauts make use of this law, and do their best to avoid the dangers of misdirecting this power. You ignore the laws of physics at your own peril.

There are also laws that govern human relationships and conduct, as well as our relationship with our Creator. It is for our good that God tells us His laws and their consequences. If we obey His perfect laws, good consequences will come. If we disobey and ignore His laws, automatic penalties are imposed.

Leviticus 26 relates these positive and negative consequences on a national scale. God says a nation that obeys His laws will be blessed, but a nation that ignores and tramples on God’s laws will eventually have the blessings taken away and experience the curses.

This process is sure, though sometimes God delays punishment out of His patience and because of promised blessings made to righteous forefathers. Or sometimes He delays in order to give people time to wake up and repent. But these delays will not last forever.

The United States has been incredibly blessed over the centuries because of promises given to Abraham (see our Fundamental Belief #18). But as America’s morals slip further and further into the cesspool of sin—even exporting its pornography, violence and greed to corrupt those in other nations—those blessings will not continue. The curses will come.

God calls on us individually and nationally to repent, to turn to Him and seek His mercy (Leviticus 26:40-42; Acts 2:38-39). Repentance is the key to ending the curses and stopping the decline caused by sin. Read more about repentance in our Fundamental Beliefs #9.

Mike Bennett is a husband, father and minister of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association, living in Ohio.