It makes sense to collaborate internationally on new space

It makes sense to collaborate internationally on new space

Orlando Sentinel: A $17.3 billion annual budget makes money tight at NASA, but the agency will need over time to come up with tens of billions of dollars to realize its mission of sending astronauts back to the moon and on to Mars. That’s why a bipartisan House proposal to enlist partners to share the cost makes sense.

The space agency is now anticipating a five-year gap between the 2010 retirement of shuttles and the launch of Orion, the vehicle that will carry astronauts to the moon and Mars. A gap that long puts NASA at greater risk of losing high-skill employees, including thousands at Kennedy Space Center. It leaves astronauts bound for the international space station dependent for too long on vehicles launched by authoritarian Russia.

Congress needs to find additional dollars to narrow the gap. The House proposal seeks an extra $1 billion for that purpose next year. Any effort to pull in partners now, if it delays getting Orion off the ground, would be unwise. But over the long term, persuading countries to defray the huge costs of the mission could be crucial.

This would not be uncharted space for NASA. More than a dozen nations have worked with the agency on the space station.

Beyond the financial argument, there is a strategic one for the House proposal. It would be easier for the United States to monitor and shape the development of space programs in nations such as China by working — not just competing — with them.

Of course, NASA would need to be very careful in the technology it makes accessible. But even during the Cold War, the United States managed to collaborate in space with the Soviet Union.

Russia and China are strengthening their ties with other nations through their space programs. The United States could better maintain its leadership in space and extend its global influence by following their example.