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Will China Beat the United States Back to the Moon?

Posted by Zonk on from the they'll-make-the-trip-from-the-earth-to-the-moon dept.

MarkWhittington writes "During an address on the space economy to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the space age, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin made the assertion that China would beat the United States back to the Moon. 'Americans will not like it, but they will just have to not like it. I think we will see, as we have seen with China's introductory manned space flights so far, we will see again that nations look up to other nations that appear to be at the top of the technical pyramid, and they want to do deals with those nations. It's one of the things that made us the world's greatest economic power. So I think we'll be reinstructed in that lesson in the coming years and I hope that Americans will take that instruction positively and react to it by investing in those things that are the leading edge of what's possible."'"

7 of 482 comments (clear)

  1. Who Cares? by moehoward · · Score: 5, Insightful


    We got first post! I mean on the moon, not Slashdot.

    We went there and there was nothing there. Just pride and Cold War points. Me? Loved it. Still recall watching the launches and Apollo 13 as a youngster. I was so into it as a 6-10 year-old. Definitely made a huge impact on the direction of my life.

    While we Slashdotters often mock "If they can put a man on the moon...", there really is something to that. Look at the technology at that time. Look at the mission and the time frame. Amazing stuff. The politicians (mostly) kept their noses out. Even more amazing...

    I don't want us to go back on tax bucks. I don't want another stupid political race, this time with China. I want the private sector to make money in space. We went there for the glory, let's go back for cash. I honestly mean it. If there is a return to be made, let's have the private sector do it, and let's give incentives for that.

    --
    "If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid." - Epictetus
  2. There's one major difference... by Locklin · · Score: 5, Funny

    In space, lead PROTECTS you!

    --
    "Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns" -Journal of Political Econom
  3. Re:They SHOULD... by wilstrup · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually Americans have all their money. The US has been running a huge trade deficit for years, and it's all been financed through loans from other countries. China is one of the leading providers of capital on the international market, due to their enormous trade surplus.

  4. Big Deal by skam240 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The question we all need to ask is why do we even need to go back? We're not building moon bases anytime in the near future and extracting resources is way to expensive for the foreseeable future.

    Some one please tell me what possible reason we would have for even wanting to waste billions of dollars on another trip to the moon for. It's a big floating rock.

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  5. Shallow money grub, but, I'm sold... by tjstork · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think the USA needs to invest big time in nuclear rockets, and at the same time, wrap up its Constellation program.

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    This is my sig.
  6. Re:Richard the Rocket Engine by RenderSeven · · Score: 5, Funny

    You have to admit, red spaceships are going to be pretty cool.

    Sure but how will they handle the recall when the Moon People find out there is lead in the red paint?

  7. Conclusion not consistent with the facts by amightywind · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This Griffin surely and funding ploy for NASA. The facts suggest China's program is grossly overrated.

    • China has never developed a spacecraft from scratch. They modified a Soyuz.
    • Thay have never developed anything larger than a 10ton launcher, the Long March, which is also similar to a Soyuz They will need a rocket 10x as large to land on the moon.
    • They have launched two times since 2003. Their next mission is not planned until fall 2008. Between 1963 and 1968 America developed Apollo and flew around the moon
    • They are way behind Japan which has just launched an ambitious moon mission, Selene.
    • The US has a highly credible architecture for moon missions in Ares I & V and Orion. The vehicles are being built of existing parts.
    • The US has the experience developing,launching, and assembling the 1,000,000lb ISS
    • The US has >10x China's space budget for the foreseeable future

    Based on the facts how can you conclude that China will get there first? Indeed, it is not clear that they will beat Japan as the leader in Asian spaceflight.

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    an ill wind that blows no good