OPINION:
If there is anything emptier than space, it is China’s endless excuses for unloosing the coronavirus. Americans have seen nearly a half-million of their fellow citizens go to their graves without hearing so much as an “Oops, my bad.” For the world’s most populous nation, a refusal to demonstrate fundamental humanity is not a good look. Since the future points toward space, explorers encountering each other on distant worlds must be equipped with an understanding that survival will depend on the sharing of good will.
The crossing of extraterrestrial paths is already starting: This week will mark a historic first, with unmanned missions from three nations orbiting Mars simultaneously. Like commuter cars on the expressway, the spacecraft launched last July and raced the 300 million miles to Mars, one after another.
A ship from the United Arab Emirates dropped into Mars orbit last Tuesday, followed the next day by one from China. Lastly, a U.S. orbiter arrives this week. Its rover, dubbed “Perseverance,” is expected to touch down first and begin gathering rock and soil samples for retrieval by future missions. The UAE’s “Hope” probe is programmed to remain aloft and study the Martian atmosphere, while China’s “Questions to Heaven” rover is scheduled to circle the planet for months before following the American mission in exploring the surface.
A question to China is worth asking: Can the communist nation be counted on to voyage in space with more concern for human life than exhibited in its cold excuses for spreading COVID-19?
Some nations have already vowed to go the distance for the common good. NASA has crafted principles, called the Artemis Accords, to guide cooperative exploration of the moon, Mars, comets and asteroids. Signed in 2020, the accords affirm commitments that include the peaceful exploration of space, sharing of scientific information, maintaining common standards for the use of space-based structures, and expending reasonable efforts to assist spacefarers in distress. Partner nations include the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Luxembourg, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine and Brazil.
Frenemy Russia has balked at joining, claiming the accords weaken existing international guidelines on the use of resources extracted from space bodies, possibly giving the U.S. a head-start in the mining of life-sustaining elements on Mars. But Beijing’s absence from the pact stems from its notorious practice of scientific espionage, which prompted Congress to ban NASA-China collaboration. A lack of contrition over the coronavirus does little to reassure accord signatories that China will prove a team player in the space race.
Robotic rovers don’t care that space is a lonely place, but when star-crossed troubles arise during manned missions to the moon and Mars, human spacefarers will welcome any helping hand. The sooner China bares a humanitarian heart it has not displayed during the pandemic, the safer for all.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.