Posted on 01/02/2007 7:03:48 PM PST by KevinDavis
A renewal of robotic lunar exploration is ready for liftoff in 2007—and not by the United States. This year, China is set to launch its first lunar orbiter, followed by the summer sendoff of a mega-powerful mooncraft from Japan.
Both nations are kick-starting a barrage of robotic survey ships that shoot for the Moon, including lunar missions by India and the United States in 2008.
As global interest in the Moon grows, so too does the call for multi-nation collaboration in robotic and future human exploration of Earth’s neighboring natural satellite.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
The PRC seems to be more successful at launching rockets than Japan.
I am wondering, why is so many countries interested in the Moon now all of a sudden. What happend to Mars?
The moon is believed to have a abundance of Helium-3 which occurs naturally on the Moon. On earth, Helium-3 occurs Artificially and rarely naturally.
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