Steven Richards writes for JustTheNews.com about an interesting revelation involving the American government’s space program.
A House investigation has identified hundreds of scientific publications in which NASA-funded U.S. researchers appear to have conducted joint work with Chinese institutions, potential violations of a federal law that has barred such collaboration for more than a decade.
The report, released on Wednesday by the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, also found that, in several instances, some of that research involved collaboration between National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientists and institutions that are part of “China’s defense research and industrial base.”
The findings have serious relevance at the current moment, the committee’s chairman, John Moolenaar, R-Mich., said, because the United States is currently engaged in a new space race with the Chinese Communist Party.
NASA’s successful Artemis II mission last month demonstrated the space agency’s capability to return Americans to lunar orbit, with the goal of reaching the lunar surface by 2028, for the first time since the end of the Apollo missions. China is also planning its own expedition to the moon, hoping to land its own astronauts, called “taikonauts,” on the moon by 2030.
“The successful Artemis II mission made all Americans proud of the incredible work happening at NASA. We are the world leader in space exploration, and we want to make sure the taxpayer-funded research that keeps America ahead is protected from adversaries including China,” Moolenaar said in a statement.
“NASA worked cooperatively with the Committee throughout this review, acknowledged areas where improvements were needed, and demonstrated it is taking these issues seriously through concrete steps to improve its research security and compliance processes moving forward,” he added.
“I appreciate the rigorous review that the House Select Committee on China and Chairman Moolenaar as well as the Senate Judiciary Committee and Chairman Grassley have undertaken, which has brought needed visibility to gaps in NASA’s past compliance practices,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman told Just the News in a statement.
