China's meteoric rise in space science and exploration, as well as its new partnership with Russia should cause the United States to reconsider the absence of bilateral collaborations.
The United States is still the world leader in space exploration, and by far. However, China is methodically advancing its own agenda, and a particularly ambitious one at that.
Three years ago, the country indeed distinguished itself by successfully landing a rover on the far side of the Moon. A few months ago, China also brought back to Earth the first lunar samples for forty years before successfully landing on Mars for the first time without forgetting the successful deployment of the first module of its new space station. By the end of next year, the structure should be able to expand and accommodate more astronauts on board, some of whom could come from the West.
If all these projects were indeed planned since 2016, it is clear that the country seems to have "stepped on the accelerator", after several years of tossing around in the middle spatial. Now, China is one of the main players in the sector .
And it's not over! Like NASA or SpaceX, China is also planning human exploration of deep space, as evidenced by the recent agreement with Russia providing for the construction of a research base on the Moon or the intention to propose a first manned mission to Mars as soon as 2033.
The impact that China's space program may have on US space exploration goals is still uncertain. However, some experts suggest that it may be time for the United States to seek common ground .
For the time being, such collaboration seems impossible, especially under the Wolf Amendment (initiated by Frank Wolf, senator from Virginia), integrated into a law signed in 2011 , prohibiting NASA from using federal funds to engage in direct bilateral cooperation with the Chinese government. But should the rules be relaxed?
John Logsdon of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University thinks so. As the researcher explains to Scientific Amercian, the United States should start by relying on diplomatic and scientific channels to test the waters for a possible collaboration in space.
Such an agreement between two "enemy" countries would not be new. Several decades ago, in part because of their enormous nuclear arsenals and the associated threat of mutually assured destruction, the United States and the USSR finally reached a stalemate that extended into space where cooperation rather than competition. The ISS, jointly built and permanently occupied for more than two decades by astronauts and cosmonauts, is the perfect example.
Collaborating could be beneficial for both the United States and China. An example of an agreement between the two countries could for example involve the sharing of certain samples from the Chang’e-5 lunar mission . As long as US researchers use no NASA funds and separate NASA-funded academic projects from all China-related projects, nothing prevents them from requesting, receiving and analyzing such samples.
Similarly, China's recently introduced Mars sample return initiative is another prospect for the future. If the timelines are to be believed, those samples would return to Earth around the same time as those shelved by the Perseverance rover. A mutual sharing of rocks could therefore be envisaged .
Anyway, it will be at the United States to take the first step. And for good reason, if China seems to be going it alone for several years, it is precisely because of the Americans . And it's a safe bet that China, which needs recognition on the international scene, would not hesitate to seize this stretched pole. However, she could do without. As Brown University's Jim Head points out to SA:"If we sit down and bury our heads in the sand and do nothing ourselves, they will continue." They won't wait for us “.
