NASA Administrator: US Must Compete With China in Space

In an effort to compete with China in the space race, NASA and the Trump administration intends to refocus efforts on the moon as a way to get humans to mars, advance space exploration, and potentially expand the U.S. military with a space force, newly tapped NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said Sunday.

"[China has] been focused on the moon, and they have been focused on other aspects of space that maybe we have not been focused on," Bridenstine told "The Cats Roundtable" on 970 AM-N.Y. "They've got a lander on the moon now with a rover. This year they’re planning to land for the first time in history on the far side of the moon with a robot. They are certainly doing things, maybe a little differently than us.

"I would not say they're ahead of us. Maybe they’re ahead of us in some areas, and we are ahead of them in other areas. But they have a very methodical, planned-out plan to do space exploration in a major way — and this president wants to see the United States of America lead again in space."

Bridenstine stressed getting back to the moon will aid in exploring space because it can help solve the "tyranny of the rocket equation" — making space travel more cost effective in terms of fuel cost — and help us learn how "sustain life on other worlds."

"We've got to get humans to Mars — and part of the reason that the president wants us to go back to the moon is because it is the absolute best proving ground for an eventual Mars mission," Bridenstine told host John Catsimatidis.

". . . I wouldn't say we'd take off from the moon. No. 1 the moon is a proving ground for the technologies and the life-support capabilities."

Another way to make space exploration more affordable for the U.S. government and taxpayers is to use the utilize private space companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

"Where we can buy services, NASA will buy services," Bridenstine told Catsimatidis. "If there is a robust commercial capability that is already underway doing amazing things, NASA can be one customer of many customers, which drives down the price to the taxpayer and it, in fact, increases capability. Those launch-service providers, they compete on innovation, they compete on cost, and all of that is good for the American taxpayer."

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