CNBC explains 'Why The World Is Rushing Back To The Moon'

I wrote "I might post another entry today" at the end of The 2023-2024 Environmental Media Association Awards nominees. As my readers can see, I was able to compose one, a follow up to 'NASA 2024: Onward and Upward' and 'ESA’s future of space travel' early this month. I return to the topic of the future of space travel with CNBC explaining Why The World Is Rushing Back To The Moon.

During the Cold War, competition between the the United States and the former USSR was fierce, as the two countries rallied for the chance to make history by getting to the moon first. In 1959, the Soviet Union beat the U.S. to become the first nation to reach the surface of the moon with its Luna 2 spacecraft. But, the United States was the first country to put man on the moon in 1969, and to this day is still the only nation to have landed people on the moon. To date, only five nations, the U.S., Russia, China, Japan and India, have completed a successful soft landing on the moon. But bolstered by evidence of the presence of water and other natural resources, many more nations and private companies are now seeking to get to the moon. And whoever is able to establish a significant lunar presence first could have big implications on Earth as well as the cosmos.

I'll take a space race between the U.S. and China if it motivates the U.S. to return to the Moon and spurs us to go on to Mars. I'm also glad that CNBC mentioned that Artemis was one program the Biden Administration retained from the Trump Administration. I being a good environmentalist by recycling what I wrote in NASA and '60 Minutes' on women in NASA for International Women's Day and reused in The Artemis program and NASA's proposed 2022 budget for Yuri's Night 2021.

I'm glad that Joe Biden's Administration publicly supports the continuation of the Trump Administration's plans for space exploration. As I wrote five years ago and repeated the next year, "space policy is the one area where Trump might actually be good for the country" and "Trump's plan is actually not a bad idea." I was worried that the Biden Administration would dump the one Trump policy I supported along with all the ones I couldn't stand. I'm relieved that they didn't.

File this under "even a stuck clock is right twice a day" and Donald Trump is definitely a stuck clock.

That was earlier this week. CNN examined the subject earlier today when it asked Could space be the next platform for war? Hear what NASA official thinks.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour speaks with NASA deputy administrator Pamela Melroy about the potential that space could be the next platform for war between nations.

Fortunately, Pamela Melroy thinks the answer is no. However, I wonder if she would get the same answer from a high-ranking officer of Space Force. Now I'm tempted to leave that as a suggestion in a comment to the video.

That's it for today's space update. Stay tuned for the highlights of tonight's Saturday Night Live tomorrow.