Posted on 05/20/2002 7:32:30 AM PDT by aculeus
China's ambitious space plans have been extended to building a base on the Moon starting in 2010, a Chinese space official has said. Before that the fledgling space power aims to complete a number of manned missions into space and to establishing an orbiting "space laboratory".
In a lecture in Beijing during China's National Science week, Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist with China's Moon programme, outlined the country's bold space strategy.
"China is expected to complete its first exploration of the moon in 2010 and will establish a base on the moon as we did in the South Pole and the North Pole." China Daily quotes Ziyuan as saying. He did not say whether China's mission to the Moon would be manned.
James Oberg, a veteran of the US space programme and an authority on manned space flight, says China is unlikely to send astronauts to the Moon.
"They don't have the budget or the technology," Oberg told New Scientist. "Their whole approach has been remarkably cautious. Robot missions make much more sense." But Oberg believes China could feasibly construct a small space station.
China has so far completed three unmanned test flights with its Shenzhou spacecraft and intends to place the first Chinese astronaut in space by 2005. This would make China only the third nation to achieve the feat, after Russia and the US.
Twelve people have been selected to become China's first generation of "taikonauts" and are undergoing training.
Mass drivers?
The worst mistake we made was cancelling / throttling our space program to low earth orbit.
We should have pushed farther faster and quicker.
This nation was built on pioneers and it's DAMN time we remembered that and went after the new ground...
I'd be willing to take a "conastoga wagon" too space and find some ground to live free on ......any day!
Our best days were when we we expanding and right now we are contracting through polilitical correctness to a whimper of what we once were.
Stupid question, but can you really call it a moon base if it's an unmanned mission?
Ok, so they do design work, too: Chinese Aerospace Technology.
The NORTH pole???
ROTFLMAO!!!!
"They don't have the budget or the technology," Oberg told New Scientist. "Their whole approach has been remarkably cautious. Robot missions make much more sense." But Oberg believes China could feasibly construct a small space station.
Yeah, just keep telling yourself this so you can continue along doing the crappy job you've been doing on getting human beings beyond Earth orbit. Don't be surprised, however, when the Chinese have a working moon base in 2010.
China plans base on the moon t o exploit mineral resources: report
I don't know if we should all be alarmed yet, but I have been alarmed ever since the Apollo landing program was scrapped. Thanks to Nixon. He should have been impeached.
The next question is: "who cares?"
Been there, done that.
Nothing up there but a bunch of sterile rocks and dust.
If the Chinese can figure out how to raise dogs and rice up there, good for them.
We may find out this fall if there is indeed water at the south pole region. It isn't NASA sending the robot, but ESA.
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