Editorial: Space exploration is surging, as are Earthly rivalries – San Francisco Chronicle

For many people, space travel is better contemplated than attempted. Its costly, dangerous and nonessential. There are more problems to solve down here than up there. Dream about the heavens by all means, but please skip the risky rocket trip into the unknown.

That view, its safe to say, is going nowhere. More than any time since the Cold War space race in the 1960s, this planet is gripped by a wide-open contest to study and sample this solar system and beyond. Space exploration is more popular than ever.

This country is the runaway leader by any measure. Its launched more satellites, astronauts and deep space probes than any other nation. American footprints are the only ones on the moon. The U.S. now contracts rocket launches to private firms using reusable boosters, and theres a line of eager Earthlings vying to buy tickets on space voyages.

But the rest of the pack is catching up. China landed a dirt-digging probe on the moon that retrieved soil. Japan landed another mission on an asteroid and brought back samples. Russia, which shocked the world with its Sputnik satellite in 1957, is also in the game. Israel and India have programs that are well along.

The next phase will be the most challenging. It may take years, but the U.S. wants to set up a base on the moon as a staging spot for a human mission to Mars. Building such a spaceport means long-term crews, extra fuel, and the technicalities of landings and liftoffs. Theres speculation about mining, industrial work and the complications that go with setting up on an unclaimed astral body.

Those are distant concerns for now.

Space travel is a near-weekly occurrence as spy satellites blast off, relief crews travel to and from the 20-year-old International Space Station, and communications hardware is sent aloft to help with driving instructions, radio stations and weather predictions. Space exploration is no longer a luxury or scientific preoccupation. Its an everyday part of life on the ground.

The scale of it all can be daunting and worrisome. Rivalries are a problem as the U.S., China and Russia fill the sky with satellites, some of them suspected of being weaponry that can fire at earthly targets and one another. The Open Space Treaty of 1967 barred nuclear weapons or territorial claims, but it lacks a way to settle disputes or limit militarization. Several tries to update the treaty have stalled.

If that sounds gloomy, consider the next step proposed by the Trump administration. In debuting the possible Mars mission, it invited other nations to take part. The military-flavored Space Force, which it also pushed, isnt the only feature of the departing presidency.

That mission, known as Artemis, could be the new feature of space exploration: multinational, cooperative and even less costly as expenses are shared. The first leg to the moon will feature a female astronaut stepping down to the powdery surface alongside a male.

These next steps bring up the familiar questions about risk and opportunity. Is it worth all the trouble to drive deeper into space? The first era of human exploration is giving way to another more intriguing one. The big questions remain: Is there life out there, how will humans handle an unknown frontier and what can space voyages teach a struggling home planet? The quest for answers all but guarantees that the space race will intensify.

This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters.

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Editorial: Space exploration is surging, as are Earthly rivalries - San Francisco Chronicle