A new kind of space race is brewing. The race to reach the moon that is. Unlike the Cold war era,
this time US appears to be locking horns with China moon as they two countries gear
up for the next moon landing race. Hello and welcome to PointOrView.
NASA’s Artemis moon missions have got tangled up in power play, petty politics,
brazen mudslinging between SpaceX and Blue Origin over human moon lander contract,
budgetary wrangling and malicious lawsuits.
Given the uncertainty around the timeline of Artemis 1 mission,
the 2024 target for the Artemis crewed mission, or Artemis 4, seems to have slipped into oblivion.
China on the other hand, free of political and budgetary obstacles, has been making rapid
advances in space technology and exploration. The Asian nation has this year alone landed a
rover on Mars, brought back moon rock samples, launched its own space station and sent first
set of taikonauts to set up the space station. China is also accelerating its plans for moon
landing. China has already carried out 5 uncrewed lunar missions including orbiting the moon,
landing a rover on the moon, and retrieving lunar debris and rock samples as part of the most recent
lunar mission called Chang’e 5, by far the most complex and ambitious of Chinese moon missions.
Chang'e 5 is part of the CNSA's Chang'e lunar exploration program. Named after
a Chinese goddess of the moon, Chang’e, the series of missions aims to steadily increase
their technological capabilities, and paving the way for future human landings.
After returning moon samples to earth, the orbiter,
which was one of four spacecraft that comprised the Chang’e-5 mission, left for deep space.
After spending some time there, it is now said to be headed back to the moon for a lunar flyby.
These successes, and the growing international scientific and commercial interest in the moon,
have emboldened China to embark on a new lunar project that builds on the
Chang'e program's newly acquired capabilities. So then, let’s get back to the US-China moon race.
China plans to land its Taikonauts on the lunar surface by 2030 and the US
is working on its lunar mission with a 2024 deadline for human moon landing.
If the US timetable slips, and China chooses to shift gears and speed up, we could have the next
moon race on our hands by the middle of the 2020s. As things stand right now, both NASA and
CNSA are aiming for the lunar south pole. NASA’s Space Launch System is behind schedule and way
over budget, and China's potential lunar mission launcher, Long-March 9 rocket, is yet to be built.
Check out my video Long March 9 rocket if you want to know more about it.
The link is in the top right corner. Between the two nations, the US position
is more vulnerable, considering time and costs of getting SLS and lunar gateway ready,
and lack of a lunar lander. Importantly, it remains to be
seen if Congress & Biden administration will support a 2024 landing timeline. Or will the
US once again, lose focus and drift off course? In sharp contrast, the Chinese establishment
can shore up funds, personnel and effort, and the government isn’t answerable to their people.
It would be a matter of prestige and a humongous victory for the Chinese government
to land Taikonauts on the Moon first, maybe in the late 2020s.
Of course, the wildcard could be commercial space, and the possibility that new space
entrepreneurs like SpaceX's Elon Musk could get to the moon faster than either NASA or China's CNSA.
If NASA really means business, and acts smart, they should ditch SLS, and talk to Elon Musk about
Falcon Heavy Booster and tap Jeff Bezos about what Blue Origin can bring to the table.
It may be the only way the US would win a new moon race against China
that could emerge in the next few years. Chances are, NASA is likely not capable of
juggling big egos and the bitter rivalry between leading private space companies,
that will prevent any large-scale cooperation needed for NASA to meet its 2024 deadline.
As for China, nothing seems to be too difficult to achieve when it comes to national prestige
and proving a point to the international community. For them, the sky really is the limit.
Thanks for watching. Hit the thumbs up if you like this video and I hope you’d consider subscribing
to my channel for more content about all things space. And I’ll see you in the next video.