Moon Base Alpha by digital painter Jon Hrubesch
Posted on 05/29/2023 10:12:11 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Weeks after Russia's former head of the Roscomsmos space agency cast doubt on the US moon landing in 1969, China announced plans to put a person on the moon by 2030.
Moon Base Alpha by digital painter Jon Hrubesch
In a Monday announcement, Lin Xiqiang, the deputy director of China’s Manned Space Agency, said that the CCP's moon landing project - part of the country's broader Lunar Exploration Project (Chang'e Project, named after the Chinese moon goddess) - had only "recently" been kick started. The project seeks to eventually enable short-term stays on the lunar surface, as along with the collection of samples and other research, The NY Times reports.
Chinese scientists have previously nodded at a 2030 goal in a less formal capacity; for example, the chief designer of China’s lunar exploration program said last month that a 2030 landing would be “no problem.”
The Monday announcement came at a news conference to mark the liftoff of three new astronauts on Tuesday to China’s new space station, which was completed late last year.
A manned lunar landing would be a major milestone for China’s, and the world’s, space exploration: No human has been on the moon since the United States’ Apollo missions in the 1960s and ’70s. And it could mark a significant achievement for China in its burgeoning competition with the United States in space. China’s top leader, Xi Jinping, has said that the country should become a “great space power.”
The announcement follows one by NASA, which announced a plan to put a team on the moon by 2025 as part of the (repeatedly delayed) Artemis program.
A painting of a prospective future lunar colony by artist Rick Guidice for NASA
Both Beijing and Washington want to build research stations on the moon, and to land people on Mars.
The Times frames the announcement as a point of contention between the US and China, echoing the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
NASA’s administrator, Bill Nelson, has said that the United States should “watch out” for Chinese attempts to dominate the lunar surface and keep Americans out. A Pentagon report last year warned that China could overtake American capabilities in space by 2045. -NY Times
China has accelerated its space program in recent years, and is currently the only country (known) to have landed anything on the moon in the 21st century. The CCP also landed a lunar probe on the moon's far side for the first time in history in 2019.
If the moon is next for humans, it might be a good time to bone up on your Heinlein.
Careful, China. You never know what's up there!
When did he say that and how addled was he?
FYI, we can’t do that today. And with Biden in office, we won’t be able to in the next seven years.
The US has retrograded. Significantly.
I thought Moon Base Alpha has already been built on the moon back in 1999. Commander Koenig was in charge last I knew.
The core of the program, the Space Launch System, is well behind schedule and well over-budget. Better hope that Musk gets the Starship flying well (and that NASA lets him fly the Orion on it or gives up and rides an enhanced Dragon capsule instead) if you want anything in lunar orbit to greet the Chinese.
If DWA is any indication, they’ll stop short then crash into it.
Moon missions are for ascendant nations. The US is too weak, woke and broke for ventures like that anymore. Let’s concern ourselves with more pressing issues here on earth.
Good luck with Chinese on the moon, they can’t even get an aircraft carrier to work... All words.
NASA did it in less than 7 years last time.
I bet Musk could do it now, if he wanted to.
"NASA represented roughly 2.2% of the total US federal outlays from 1959 to 1972. "
“Buzz Aldrin says we didn’t go to the moon.....”
Jim Irwin, Christian and Patriot to the core, said they did.
“...and today we are told we need to develop new technology to get back?”
Of course, first all electric space shot. It’ll priobablhy have seat warmers.
And if the Chinese beat us there, they’ll have it overpopulated in 2 years. Half of their astronauts will be pregnant upon landing.
wy69
The future of America looks to be like some of the other countries in this world today.. We'll hire foreigners to build our bridges, our roads, large building and just about everything else you can think of..
Our schools are fowled to the point where they are nothing more then leftest hellholes where some of the most grotesque of our society are congregating..
There were articles in the past number of years that a single i-phone back then has more computing power than what was needed for the Apollo missions. If that is true, then one would think that would be one area for huge cost savings. Except we are talking about the feral givernment running things here so it will be even more expensive.
Ok, well it was about 4.5% of federal tax dollars, which is not the same as the federal budget. I should have said the former.
Maybe. The demonkkrap party has a history (ask Monica’s boyfriend, BJ Clinton) and will find a way to transfer the needed technology to them when it is needed.
Computing power is not really important since all that is needed for space travel is Newtonian physics which is hundreds of years old. And in the 60’s and 70’s NASA had about the equivalent of a programmable calculator. It’s parts manufacturing that represents most of the savings today, I think. Back then most of the parts had to be custom manufactured by hand. And there were a lot more of them needed, since modern rocket engines contain far fewer.
Yuri Gregarin admitted that he never orbited the earth. He started to state that publicly so the KGB had him killed in a Mig accident.
The givernment is never interested in saving money, only spending so their power is never diminished, only expanded.
If you have ever seen what it costs to machine a screw or rivet to feral givernment quality and reliability specifications, including all of the record keeping up and down the supply chain for traceability etc. .... the parts manufacturing will be much more expensive than off the shelf prices. Which by the way, the off the shelf stuff is often made in China, and is of poor quality.
Then there will be the bloated administrative expenses, such as there will have to be a racist Director of D.I.E. and a department with about 100 groomers specially assigned to the project. There will be a couple of wings for the EPA involved to calculate how much carbon will be generated so ICE cars like yours can be removed from the roadway to make sure the space shot is carbon neutered - which of course removal of ICE cars will be an existential urgent national security interest as will be justified by a highly redacted Sea Eye A study (can’t divulge sources and methods) written just for one space shot. They’ll have to have a wing of lawyers to take car owners to feral court who object to losing their cars. Then there will be the ads on tv telling you “we are all in this together” and the only white person in the ad will be represented by a cross-dresser or a lesbian .... I could go on ... but most of the costs will have nothing to do with the materials or the computers.
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