NASA risks losing ground to China in space research if it is not ready to replace the International Space Station, lawmakers said at a Wednesday, February 14, hearing.
China’s burgeoning space program and Tiangong Space Station were discussed during a live-streamed U.S. House subcommittee hearing on space research and the future of the International Space Station (ISS), which is expected to retire in 2030. was brought up repeatedly.
Several speakers at the space and aviation hearing subcommittee cited the “aging” ISS (some of which first flew in 1998) and the “increasing amount of Chinese research” that overshadows U.S. efforts in low-Earth orbit. We discussed the threat.
NASA has a transition plan that relies on commercial space stations. But whether one or more of these outposts will be ready in time is an open question, depending on factors such as funding, political priorities, and technological advances. (NASA officials are considering extending ISS operations beyond 2030, depending on the situation.)
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One of the subcommittee’s priorities, according to Committee Chairman Brian Babin (R-Texas), is how NASA’s activities in low-Earth orbit are “as a result of gaps” in science and international relations. The goal is to learn how to “promote national interests.” Mr. Babin represents the Houston area, which is home to NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
One of the consequences is money. Companies are looking for stability when planning space projects. “The uncertainty of the International Space Station’s termination date creates a great deal of uncertainty for investors,” Mary Lynn Dittmer, director of government and external affairs at Houston firm Axiom Space, said at Wednesday’s hearing. told the subcommittee. (Axiom has partnered with SpaceX to organize three private astronaut missions to the ISS and is one of the companies receiving funding from NASA to build new commercial facilities.)
Apart from the intrinsic value of applying space health research to isolated populations and the elderly, space patents also provide a lucrative, commercially traceable revenue stream that offsets the high costs of launching things into space. represents. However, the United States is not the only player in the patent field. Although Tiangong is smaller and less mature than the ISS, China is poised to rapidly grow its space research.
The Chinese station has “more than 20 mini-laboratories equipped with centrifuges and cold chambers that reach temperatures as low as -80 degrees Celsius.” [-112 degrees Fahrenheit], a high-temperature reactor, multiple lasers, and an optical atomic clock,” Nature reported in a 2022 news article. Tiangong is estimated to last until around 2032, and could ultimately conduct 1,000 experiments over its lifetime. By comparison, the ISS has undergone about 3,000 surveys in 25 years, as of September 2023, according to a Science News article.
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Meanwhile, Chinese patents dominate global research and are growing rapidly. According to the last 10-year study of space-based biological and physical research published in 2023, the U.S. share of international patents fell by 5 points to 10% between 2010 and 2020. However, during the same period, China’s share tripled to 49%. (These numbers are taken from Figure 25 of his 2023 report for the US National Science Foundation and do not take into account other influencing factors such as research quality.)
Parts of U.S. space research appear to be struggling due to the rise of China. NASA’s Biophysical Sciences Division, which is responsible for many of the ISS experiments, is “grossly underfunded relative to the scientific problems it is required to address, and is the most underfunded of all divisions within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.” “We don’t have enough funds,” the news agency reported. Release based on his decennial survey in 2023. “A lack of sufficient funding is slowing scientific progress that should accelerate to match the growth in space exploration and development.”
Even if NASA were interested in using Tiangong’s experimental space, it probably wouldn’t be able to do so. The 2011 directive, known as the Wolf Amendment, prohibits bilateral agreements or coordination between NASA and Chinese government agencies without express authorization from Congress. But other countries in the ISS agreement have a clearer path forward. Tiangong is the only long-term orbital platform available for space research unless commercial facilities are launched into orbit before the ISS falls.
“If a commercial platform is not available prior to decommissioning.” [ISS]our current partner countries have no choice but to gravitate toward China,” said a subcommittee witness and chief executive of Voyager Space, another company developing civilian outposts with NASA support. Director Dylan Taylor said.
Other witnesses raised ethical or security concerns. For example, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s 2021 report includes cybersecurity and missiles among the space threats listed regarding China.
Apart from security concerns, there are also concerns about the aging of the ISS. The complex is healthy, and NASA continues to upgrade, replace, and repair critical components as needed. For example, astronauts have spent years increasing their power supply during spacewalks by installing more powerful batteries and more efficient solar panels.
But at least one ISS module shows distortion from decades of orbital boosting and solar radiation. In January, for example, a report from NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Group (ASAP) identified “multiple microscopic cracks” in the ISS module. (Authorities had revealed in 2021 that there were cracks in the Russian-made Zarya module, but the ASAP report did not specify the module by name.)
This is a very small, but measurable and growing risk for stations such as the ISS and Tiangong, assuming the ISS is not hit by space junk that is suddenly forced to evacuate. NASA is doing its best to return the space station. Use a deorbit vehicle to descend safely into the Indian Ocean. NASA closed the call for proposals for space tugboats this Monday (February 12).
Former astronaut Ken Bowersox said, “Essentially, the ISS will rise, wait six months or a year, and then gradually start descending lower towards Earth.” Air molecules form complexes. He said as he dragged it out. He is an astronaut who currently serves as deputy administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate.
“As we descend to our final altitude, we will send an impulse from the deorbiter that will bring the ISS closer,” Bowersox continued. [down] In a much smaller area of the Indian Ocean…as far away from people as possible. ”
NASA’s goal is to reduce the chance of danger to surface residents to less than 1 in 10,000, he said. But that controlled reentry will only happen “if we take the time and budget to pay for it,” Bowersox stressed. NASA’s 2024 budget is still before Congress, and through at least March 8, the agency is spending at 2023 levels under the continuing resolution.