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https://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/new-space-race-brewing-china-announces-moon-mission-days-after-uss-artemis-takes-flight-101685415998117.html
New space race brewing? China announces moon mission days after US's
Artemis takes flight
By
Singh Rahul Sunilkumar
May 30, 2023 08:46 PM IST
China has launched a new crew to its Tiangong space station as part of
its expansive space goals which also includes a moon landing by 2030.
China has launched a new three-person crew team to the country space
station, including its first civilian astronaut, in an effort to expand
its space programme. In fact, this is only a minor component of
Beijing's massive space goals, which includes human landing on the moon
by 2030. (ALSO READ: Countdown begins as China set to send civilian to
space for first time)
Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen on a billboard reading "China
Dream, Space Dream" at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest
China on Monday, May 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen on a billboard reading "China
Dream, Space Dream" at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest
China on Monday, May 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
The new crew will help to improve the Chinese Tiangong space station,
which it developed and sent into low Earth orbit at a height of 340 to
450 km. With this, Beijing hopes to compete with the United
States-dominated International Space Station and emerge as a space power.
China's declaration of a manned lunar mission coincides with the US's
current Artemis moon mission. Nasa, the country's premiere space agency,
has completed the first phase of the project and plans to send the first
woman and first person of colour to the Moon by 2025.
Chinese Tiangong space station vs International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the outcome of a partnership
between 15 countries and five space organisations, whereas Tiangong is
entirely Chinese but ‘welcomes’ outside input and collaboration. The ISS was established in 1998 and is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2031,
whereas China finished its three-module Tiangong in late 2022 and
intends to keep the orbiting outpost continuously staffed for at least a decade.
The Chinese space station can house 3 to 6 crew members, whereas the ISS
may house up to 13. Even as the ISS is believed to be larger and more
powerful, the Chinese space station being the most recent contains new
system and may be the sole space station in the future.
ALSO READ: Chinese scientists planning to build a 3D-printed moon house
using lunar soil
China moon mission vs USA's moon mission
The Chinese government revealed its plans for a crewed lunar landing on
Monday. "We can clasp the moon in the ninth heaven," said Lin Xiqiang,
deputy head of China's Manned Space Agency, echoing a poem by Mao Zedong.
While specifics regarding its mission are yet to be revealed,
authorities have stated that it would initially prepare for a "short
stay on the lunar surface includin human-robotic joint exploration."
China became the third country after the Soviet Union and the United
States to launch a human space mission in 2003.
The US previously said that it is resuming its lunar space programme,
which includes human exploration. The country's most recent crewed trip
to the Moon was the 12-day mission.
“We’re going back to the Moon for scientific discovery, economic
benefits, and inspiration… We will collaborate with commercial and international partners and establish the first long-term presence on the Moon,” Nasa illustrated the goal of the mission.
ALSO READ: Nasa confirms Russia will not leave ISS until 2028
Is Cold war rivalry returning?
The announcement of a Chinese space mission, followed by that of the
United States, is reminiscent of the Cold War-era space competition
between the Soviet Union and the United States. The economic rivalry
between Beijing and Washington appears to have moved to space.
This also comes at a time when rivalry is growing on ground and analysts predict a conflict in space.
A top US military official recently warned that the country is left with
“no choice” but to prepare for a space confrontation 'because of
Russia's aggressiveness and China's aim to become the dominant space
power by mid-century'. Brigadier General Jesse Morehouse, the deputy
director of strategy, plans, and policy at US Space Command said, "The
United States of America is ready to fight tonight in space if we have
to,” The Guardian reported.
TOPICS
China
International Space Station
Space Station
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