We’re in a space race with China.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson is warning that China might start claiming territory on the moon.
You see the actions of the Chinese government on Earth. They go out and claim some international
islands in the South China Sea, and then they claim them as theirs. So naturally,
I don’t want China to get to the South Pole first with humans and then say, ‘This is ours, stay out.
That’s the Moon’s south pole he’s talking about.
Spacecraft have detected large amounts of water ice in the lunar south pole,
in areas that never receive sunlight.
That ice could potentially be extracted and used for air, drinking water, and rocket fuel.
NASA plans to send a rover called VIPER in 2024 to further explore the area.
VIPER will drill into the Moon's surface,
analyzing samples to create detailed maps of where water is concentrated.
We want to make sure that that’s available to all, not just the one that’s claiming it.
The South Pole’s deep and dark craters significantly differ from the bright
and relatively flat surface where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed in 1969.
They’ve got the flag up now, you can see the Stars and Stripes.
It’s been 50 years since the Apollo missions.
We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and
do the other things not because they are easy but because they are hard.
President Kennedy’s challenge set up a competition with the Soviet Union,
the other great superpower at the time.
Today, a new competitor has emerged.
China’s space program is notoriously secretive.
While NASA proudly streams live video from the International Space Station, nobody knew about
the recent spacewalks aboard China’s Tiangong space station until after they happened.
According to the Economist, China’s secrecy isn’t surprising.
“Given the prestige at stake, (Chinese) officials may be inclined to hide failures.”
Another reason is the close ties between China’s space program and
the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) which demands protection of state interests.
The U.S. currently leads the “space race”:
It spent $62 billion on its space programs in 2022,
reportedly five times more than what China spent.
The U.S. has 4,500 satellites in orbit around Earth, while China has 600.
But Beijing is catching up fast.
It built the Tiangong space station in just a year and a half compared to the
13 years it took to construct the ISS, albeit the ISS is five times larger.
The Pentagon predicts that China will surpass the U.S.
and become the dominant player in space by 2045.
China has already made remarkable progress since
sending its first astronaut - or taikonaut - into space in 2003.
It became the First Nation to land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon.
And only the second country to successfully operate a rover on Mars.
Its next goal is to land astronauts near the moon’s south pole by 2030.
The question is: Will the U.S. return to the moon before China gets there?
Artemis plans to send a crew in late 2025 but delays are likely.
NASA selected SpaceX’s Starship for the mission,
although the fully reusable rocket hasn’t yet completed a successful orbital flight.
Starship launched for the first time in April,
soaring across the Texas sky before plummeting into the Gulf of Mexico.
NASA associate administrator Jim Free expressed his doubts.
"I think my concern is the same because they haven't launched. They need to launch multiple
times -- not just for us, but for them. And then they need to launch multiple times for us.”
The journey to the moon requires a modified Starship to launch into Earth’s orbit.
Another Starship refuels it before it heads on a path to the moon.
NASA’s SLS will launch from Earth carrying crew in the Orion spacecraft,
which meets up with Starship in lunar orbit.
Astronauts will transfer from Orion to Starship, which will take them to the moon.
Since there's very little atmosphere on the moon,
Starship is modified to do without fins for landing.
For the trip home, Starship meets up with Orion left in lunar orbit.
The crew transfers over to Orion for the return to Earth.
But imagine a scenario where the SLS and Orion aren’t needed.
Starship could launch with the crew aboard,
rendezvous for refueling with another Starship, and then head to the moon.
This version of Starship retains its heat shield and flaps,
ensuring a safe and controlled descent for landing back on Earth.
China is planning its own version of Starship,
the Long March 9, but it's believed to be a decade away.
Starship maybe NASA’s pivotal asset in outpacing China’s progress in space.
NASA's relationship with SpaceX is one of its 169 international partnerships, a network far
more extensive than China's alliances with Russia, Iran, Pakistan, Thailand, and Turkey.
The possibility of China and the U.S. working together is off the table.
Congress passed the Wolf Amendment in 2011, which prohibits NASA from working
with Chinese government-owned entities due to fears of technological theft,
risks to national security, and worries about human rights abuses.
So the U.S. and China are on separate paths toward the moon.
Whoever wins the race could gain a considerable
advantage as the moon is considered to be the critical stepping stone to Mars.
The race is on, and the stakes are high.
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