Posted on 08/24/2007 10:35:03 AM PDT by Abathar
TOKYO - Japan claims its project is the biggest since Apollo. China says it is readying its probes to study the lunar surface to plan a landing.
With Asia's biggest powers set to launch their first unmanned lunar missions — possibly as early as next month — the countdown has begun in the hottest space race since the United States beat the Soviet Union to the moon nearly four decades ago.
Japan's space agency said last week that its SELENE lunar satellite is on track for a Sept. 13 launch, following years of delay as engineers struggled to fix mechanical problems.
China, meanwhile, is rumored to be planning a September blastoff for its Chang'e 1 probe, but is coy as to the date.
The Chinese satellite and its Changzheng 3 rocket have passed all tests, and construction of the launch pad is finished, according to the National Space Administration's Web site. Last month, China's minister of defense technology told CCTV that all was ready for a launch "by the end of the year."
Officials have tried to play down the importance of beating each other off the pad, but their regional rivalry is never far below the surface.
"I don't want to make this an issue of win or lose. But I believe whoever launches first, Japan's mission is technologically superior," said Yasunori Motogawa, an executive at JAXA, Japan's space agency. "We'll see which mission leads to the scientific breakthroughs."
China's military-run space program has taken a great leap forward in recent years, and the country sent shock waves through the region in 2003, when it became the first Asian country to put its own astronauts into space.
China also blasted an old satellite into oblivion with a land-based anti-satellite missile, the first such test ever conducted by any nation, including the United States and Russia.
But Japan is right behind China.
After a decade of work, Tokyo in February completed a network of four spy satellites that can monitor any spot on the globe, every day — a program spurred by the 1998 North Korean test of a Taepodong ballistic missile, which flew over Japan's main island and into the Pacific.
One of the spy satellites has since failed, however, throwing the network's effectiveness into doubt. Tokyo spends about $500 million a year on the program.
Regional powers India, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan all have satellites in orbit. North Korea says it sent one up with its 1998 ballistic missile launch and to have used it to broadcast hymns about its leader, Kim Jong Il, although the claim has never been substantiated.
The planned lunar missions by China and Japan are among the most ambitious space programs yet.
Japanese space officials have said their $276 million SELENE project is the largest lunar mission since the Apollo program in terms of overall scope and ambition, outpacing the former Soviet Union's Luna program and NASA's Clementine and Lunar Prospector projects.
SELENE involves placing a main satellite in orbit around the moon and deploying two smaller satellites in polar orbits to study the moon's origin and evolution. Japan launched a lunar probe in 1990, but that was a flyby mission, unlike SELENE, which is intended to orbit the moon.
China's Chang'e 1 orbiter will use stereo cameras and X-ray spectrometers to map three-dimensional images of the lunar surface and study its dust. The country has already spent $185 million on it, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Beijing hopes to retrieve samples from the moon in later missions, according to the project's Web page, and Xinhua has reported that a manned probe could come within 15 years. Japan is also considering a manned mission by 2025.
"It's the race for the South Pole all over again," said Hideo Nagasu, former research head of JAXA's predecessor organization, the National Aerospace Laboratory.
"In the interest of furthering Asia's space technology, cooperating would be the best option. But I don't think either side wants to do that just yet."
Been there...done that...signed USA
The Japanese rocket will be comfortable, fuel efficient, completely reliable, and will flawlessly perform the mission. The Chinese rocket will be made out of metal 1/1000th of an inch too thin to increase a manufacturers profits and will land on children when it crashes.
“China’s military-run space program has taken a great leap forward in recent years, “
Thank you Buffoon in Chief Billy Boy Klintoon.
Too bad Ron Brown didn’t live to spend his booty from all this wheelin and deelin!
LOL I was going to post I would much rather be downrange from the Japanese rocket than the Chinese one...
Aaaah... if it keeps them busy...
I’d rather see the US beat both. The instant any other nation establishes a permanent working base on the moon, it establishes a claim on the mineral resources of the moon, regardless of whatever toothless UN treaties have been signed. It’s obvious that Japan, China, Russia, and India all have their sights set on establishing a presence on the moon within several decades. The US has no choice but to return permanently.
Beelzeflubba made sure he got some booty when he was still in the cabinet..
ping
What if they remove our Flag, who is going to stop them.
No signs of megalomania there....
Hey Chavez, where's your satellite loaded up with hymns so the masses can sing praise to you??
I bet any time now the idiot will announce he's building a space program and launching one.
Taking the Russian method of ownership, we have planted a flag on the moon therefore it is ours and any nation entering our “lunar space” will be thusly charged with treaspassing, spying, espionage, and possibly and act of war.
And with his putting the country on “Chavez Time”, it will get there a half hour early!
The Chinese want to push Japan aside , and have so far helped Liberal socialists like Shinzo Abe get elected to prevent the military expansion of the Japanese Defence Forces to a more effective international role. But the Chinese will seek to destroy Japans satellites with its agressor satellite, and will not allow the Jpanese to get ahead.This is why Japan needs a military capability beyong self defence. China means to bring Japan into its hegemony, one way or another, and so far they have been successful, that is what the election of Shinzo Abe represents.
That was my understanding. We were there FIRST! planted our flag and established ownership. We also launched several Apollo missions afterwards, have equipment on the moon sending data.
Anyone else sending stuff to the moon should have to ask permission, pay rent, etc..
Better not ask Sheila Jackson Lee for directions.
I don't understand why the US has not found one good application for a Moon-base?
If they do remove it, Google will see them do it.
And if they say ‘what can you do about it”, we can simply build a big gun and put some lead into any stuff they try put on the moon without paying rent.
Too bad they never left a big bullseye target on the moon for target practice the last time we were there.
you forgot the Chinese rocket will be painted with lead paint...lol
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