Saturday, September 12

Spacecraft or Ice Breakers?

I used to think the battle over a cold planet would take place on the moon or Mars, but it appears the territorial battles are taking place at the North Pole. With the Russians restarting their arctic military bases, the Chinese sending warships to the region the other week, and the U.S. contemplating spending billions on new icebreakers, it seems the new terra nova race may be more terrestrial than previously thought. The northern reaches are now open to competition because of global climate change, which makes raw materials much more accessible.  Yes, the global climate change some do not want NASA to monitor is now a new reason to move funds from space exploration to mineral exploration backed up by the US military.  Heck, who needs to grab an asteroid when everything is for the taking here at home? 

Here is the White House's position on these changes:
Climate change is reshaping the Arctic in profound ways. The global Arctic has warmed approximately twice as fast as the rest of the world, resulting in significant impacts on land and sea. Among the most noticeable changes is the retreat of Arctic sea ice, which has experienced significant, sustained declines in both extent and thickness in recent decades...As sea-ice cover diminishes because of climate change, marine traffic is expected to increase in the Arctic, including traffic from fishing and mineral exploration to cargo shipping and tourism...That is why the Administration will propose to accelerate acquisition of a replacement heavy icebreaker to 2020 from 2022, begin planning for construction of additional icebreakers, and call on Congress to work with the Administration to provide sufficient resources to fund these critical investments. These heavy icebreakers will ensure that the United States can meet our national interests, protect and manage our natural resources, and strengthen our international, state, local, and tribal relationships.
Can we do it all?  Explore the Arctic and Mars?  Certainly.  We fought a war while putting men on the moon.  Yet that is not the ideal situation at anytime, and especially in these budget-cutting times. Let's hope we have the vision and the funding to build both Martian rovers and icebreakers.   

Image Credit:  F-22 on a runway with Alaska's Chugach Mountains as a backdrop (Michael Dinneen for LA Times)