HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Political tension and competition with Russia helped inspire the United States in the 1960s, the halcyon days of the "Space Race." The paranoia over the Russian satellite Sputnik being used to spy on us spurred us into action.
Reportedly when Dr. Wernher von Braun heard the news of Sputnik while at a Redstone Arsenal cocktail party, he exclaimed, "For God's sake, turn us loose and let us do something."
National pride, American ingenuity and powerful leadership enabled the U.S. to win the Space Race by a landslide.
The current political tension with Russia might help produce some accidental benefits, especially for our area. It might launch a renaissance in American space flight.
We are now relying on the Russian-built Soyuz for travel to the International Space Station. We also use Russian-built RD-180 engines to launch satellites that are essential for security, communications and weather forecasting. That's part of a long-term agreement between the two nations. At the time of the partnership, it made sense, economically and geopolitically.
It no longer makes sense.
The reliance on the Soyuz and other Russian equipment is no longer feasible as the countries are at odds over the Russian military presence in the Crimea. If economic sanctions are indeed the greatest weapon employed by the U.S., certainly the continuing purchase of Russian engines would be in violation of that philosophy.
In May, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin declared that Russia would no longer export the engines to the U.S. and would end its partnership in the International Space Station in 2020. The U.S. wants to extend the work there until 2024.
We shouldn't look at that as a setback. We should look at that as an opportunity.
We'll likely never achieve the national consensus and celebration over space travel that the U.S. enjoyed in the 1960s, with each launch seemingly conquering a new, exotic territory. But the possibilities for the future are enticing.
Aerojet Rocketdyne, which announced Tuesday it will open a rocket propulsion development office in Huntsville to produce a new rocket engine to replace the RD-180, is one of many companies hoping to end America's reliance on imports. United Launch Alliance, which builds Atlas rockets in Decatur, announced Wednesday it will team with Blue Origin to build engines to replace the RD-180 in its rockets.
The opportunity to rise to the occasion, like America and NASA and Huntsville did with the Apollo program, is there, though presented a bit ironically and uncomfortably in political tension.
No matter the catalyst, we say turn those great minds loose again.