Photo: Video screenshot/chinanews.com
When Elon Musk set about making money by transporting NASA stuff into space, little did he know that his extravagant space company will usher in a new space race.
Freed from having to worry about the rockets it is sending into space, NASA is now free to plan for the future. And their big plans are being matched by the behemoth from the Asian continent, China, which slowly but surely is making strides in becoming a space superpower as well.
On April 24, China celebrated its national space day. The date is chosen in honor of the launch of China’s first man-made satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, in 1970. At it also a great opportunity for lifelong president Xi Jinping to present to the 1.4 billion or so subjects how their future will look like.
Already considered a major player in space exploration, China plans to take things one step further, by establishing a permanent settlement on the moon. These plans were revealed in a video released by the country’s space agency on Dong Fang Hong’s 48th anniversary.
Unfortunately, the video is in Chinese, so there’s not much we can get from it. But the images speak at times for themselves.
As per the video released, China plans to send exploratory missions to the Moon and eventually set up a base there. The base is to be made up of modular cylinders, which can be attached to one another as the station expands. Inside, animation shows various activities being conducted.
The Chinese have not announced a timeline for these projections to become a reality. On the other hand, their American counterparts plan to have a space station orbiting the Moon no later than 2025.
With both nations racing for Earth's companion, and with the help of an increasing number of private contractors beginning to see the market value of space exploration, it is very likely that during the course of our lifetime we’ll get to see humans return to the Moon and perhaps even living there.
On April 24, China celebrated its national space day. The date is chosen in honor of the launch of China’s first man-made satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1, in 1970. At it also a great opportunity for lifelong president Xi Jinping to present to the 1.4 billion or so subjects how their future will look like.
Already considered a major player in space exploration, China plans to take things one step further, by establishing a permanent settlement on the moon. These plans were revealed in a video released by the country’s space agency on Dong Fang Hong’s 48th anniversary.
Unfortunately, the video is in Chinese, so there’s not much we can get from it. But the images speak at times for themselves.
As per the video released, China plans to send exploratory missions to the Moon and eventually set up a base there. The base is to be made up of modular cylinders, which can be attached to one another as the station expands. Inside, animation shows various activities being conducted.
The Chinese have not announced a timeline for these projections to become a reality. On the other hand, their American counterparts plan to have a space station orbiting the Moon no later than 2025.
With both nations racing for Earth's companion, and with the help of an increasing number of private contractors beginning to see the market value of space exploration, it is very likely that during the course of our lifetime we’ll get to see humans return to the Moon and perhaps even living there.
Google News