Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

It looks like Senator U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Creedence Clearwater Revival are singing from the same lyrics page.

From the popular rock group:

I see the bad moon a-rising

I see trouble on the way

I see earthquakes and lightning

I see bad times today.

U.S.-China space race

Fast forward to Senator Cruz, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Cruz is holding a Congressional hearing: “There’s a Bad Moon on the Rise: Why Congress and NASA Must Thwart China in the Space Race” in early September.

The September 3 hearing will examine legislative priorities for the upcoming reauthorization of NASA to ensure continued U.S. leadership in space.

“It will also explore the strategic, economic, and scientific importance of American dominance in low Earth orbit (LEO), lunar operations, Mars exploration, and deep space missions,” states a Cruz posting. “The hearing will assess how U.S. policy and investments can foster America’s competitive edge in the face of growing challenges from adversarial nations, like China, whose rapid space advancements pose a direct threat to U.S. leadership in the domain.”

Global leader

Announcing the upcoming hearing, Sen. Cruz notes:

Image credit: Huazhong University

“For decades, NASA has made the United States a global leader in space explorations, scientific discovery, and innovation. But make no mistake: we are in a 21st century space race. Communist China is not playing by the same rules, and they are aggressively investing resources to dominate space,” contends Cruz.

The lawmaker adds that the hearing promises to be an important opportunity to chart a course that “reinforces American leadership in space, strengthens NASA, fuels our growing commercial space sector, and protects our economic and national security interests in the final frontier.”

Image credit: Huazhong University

Witnesses

The on-tap hearing witnesses, with an additional witness perhaps announced at a later date, are:

Jim Bridenstine, Managing Partner of the Artemis Group and Former NASA Administrator

Dave Cavossa, President of the Commercial Space Federation

Allen Cutler, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Coalition for Deep Space Exploration

Dave Cavossa, President of the Commercial Space Federation

The September 3 hearing at 10:00 AM Eastern Time will stream live on the Committee web site and YouTube.

Go to: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/home

Also, go to my recent Space.com story – “China is making serious progress in its goal to land astronauts on the moon by 2030” – at:

https://www.space.com/astronomy/moon/china-is-making-serious-progress-in-its-goal-to-land-astronauts-on-the-moon-by-2030

Image credit: CCTV/CMSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab