It's Come To This?!

Never a borrower nor a lender be
For loan oft loses
Both itself and friend
And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry
This, above all: to thine own self be true

As the authentic voice of caution, theatre and common sense in the English-speaking world, William Shakespeare knew of what he wrote, and what he dramatized was human nature. Yet exhibiting a lack of caution, how the mighty have been humbled. In a mid-century bid for space supremacy between Russia and the United States, the USSR cocked a snook at the mightiest empire of the 20th Century when it sent Sputnik into outer space, to the utter amazement of the world.

The United States bade its interstellar space agency NASA, to bridge the gap, overtake and then widen it and over half a century proudly never looked back. Although perhaps it should have. If, for no other reason, that what the U.S. accomplished by determination and a whole lot of funding, the USSR did likewise with equal determination, and a whole lot of enterprising instinct, sans the funding required to overtake its space challenger.

Yesterday's launch of a spacecraft to the International Space Station saw NASA borrowing the lift at a truly critical moment as the station is in the finishing stages of its refit. Into which about $100-billion U.S. has been invested. This was a trade-off; the European spacecraft, one of six cargo-conveying flights by Arianespace, a European public-private company. In exchange and with full goodwill in place, NASA is carrying a European laboratory to the Station.

When the retrofitting of the International Space Station is completed in less than three years, it seems the United States will find itself without homegrown space shuttles; they'll have been retired as the senior craft that they are; increasingly unreliable and costly to maintain. Their replacements are in the works, and they'll likely be operation-ready by 2015.

Which leaves a bit of a gap; for five years the U.S. will have to rely on renting lift. Several billion dollars have been put aside for this purpose. And for now it appears that the only nation whose space program is capable of filling in is Russia. Bit a come-down; particularly at this juncture when relations between the two countries has seen considerable stiffening.

But is that such a bad thing? The space station is, after all, an international project, and Russia has invested a lot of time and effort in its well-being. Yes, the United States will lose considerable prestige over this planning lapse, but on the other hand, scientific enterprise should be shared, and it's been proven time and again that scientists are most comfortable sharing their expertise, stimulating and learning from one another.

NASA administrator Michael Griffin considers the situation his "greatest regret and greatest concern", having to be dependent on Russia in that five-year period for rental of their space shuttles. The only shuttles capable of doing the heavy lifting required. It is, he laments, "...unseemly, simple unseemly, for the United States - the world's leading power and leading space power - to be reduced to purchasing services like this."

Yes, it likely is, and is no doubt seen that way from without the country as well. But after all, it's the Americans themselves who set their priorities and give highest value to those areas which they deem will reflect most strongly in their favour. And they dropped the ball on this one. This is the result of various administrations - proud though they may be of American accomplishments in space - giving low priority to adequate space funding.

Penny wise and pound foolish to be certain; an unwillingness to allocate millions at the right time has led to wasting billions at the wrong time. But it'll all work out nicely in the end. And by that time it might also very nice if the two countries loosed the grip on growing suspicion to begin once again viewing one another as allies, not opponents.

The world could use a whole lot more of that.