No space race? Think again...

A few days ago, Indians suffered a sad scientific defeat. The GSLV satellite, the first Indian satellite to be launched with an indigenously-produced cryogenic engine and the first stage in an ambitious space program that would eventually put an Indian on the moon - sputtered and died during its inaugural launch. The culprit: engine failure.

The GSLV situation is predicted to put back the manned moon mission by several years. But at least we still have a manned moon mission. In recent months, the United States has backed away from its manned moon mission. Obama cancelled the Constellation program amid a chorus of controversy, and introduced instead a program that would encourage private players to pick up the slack.

To say the least, Obama's position represents a serious shift in the way the US has approached space for the past several years, which is to say, a little like a defense program. In defense, it doesn't matter if the weapons are too expensive, you have to keep up the competitive advantage.

In space, you don't. Anymore.

But countries like India and China are powering ahead with manned moon missions and even suggesting manned Mars missions. Does this mean that the US has given up the space race? Is there a space race?

At this year's Indian Science Congress, outgoing ISRO chief Madhavan Nair made a point of telling reporters that the US and India are not on a collision path, and there is no space race between ISRO and NASA. This is great news, but is it true?

India's scientific powers are still obsessed with the idea of "joining the club." Hence India's rush to sequence an entire human genome, years after an international consortium proved it was possible. Now, the obsession with a manned moon mission. One coud argue that Obama has seen the future, and landing on the moon won't ever yield a benefit that will cover the cost. But what counts as a benefit? That depends on point of view. If India and China decide that the moon matters, can the US afford to disagree? And if it does, does that mean that it's ceding space to India and China?