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China Plans To Reach Mars by 2020 and Eventually Build a Moon Base (techinsider.io)

Posted by msmash on from the major-plans dept.

Rebecca Harrington, writing for Tech Insider: China has plans to orbit the moon, land people on it, and eventually settle a moon colony. But that's just part of the nation's vision for space exploration: China intends to get a spacecraft to Mars by 2020. "Our long-term goal is to explore, land, and settle [on the moon]," Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's moon and Mars missions, told the BBC. "We want a manned lunar landing to stay for longer periods and establish a research base." Weiren didn't specify when the country plans to accomplish these goals, but he did say they will "check out" the far side of the moon before attempting to land astronauts there. This mission already has concrete plans. He also said China wants to reach Mars by 2020, and implied that the country has finally settled on a mission to send a rover to the Red Planet. "We will orbit Mars, land and deploy a rover -- all in one mission," Weiren told the BBC.

9 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. Then stop talking by NotDrWho · · Score: 3, Informative

    Then go do it.

    Talk is cheap, bitches.

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  2. this is what you get by yodleboy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is what you get when your manned space program is driven by actually having achievable goals than by nostalgia and keeping the government pork flowing. Oh I have no doubt there will be a lot of flag waving and such, but I'll take my hat off to them when they pull off a sustainable colony on the moon. Which event will come long before NASA even manages its publicity stunt manned flight to Mars. Manned space flight is still risky, and you will lose people eventually. NASA has largely decided that the risk of losing people is unacceptable to Americans and they will keep manned projects in design indefinitely to avoid it. Just wait and see. One thing the Chinese have going for them, they won't let loss of life knock their program on its ass. Those lost will be rightly called heroes and will inspire, not terrify, others to follow.

    1. Re:this is what you get by tnk1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sadly, the loss of life we have suffered did not used to terrify us, and I don't think it terrifies most people in the USA today either. It's those people who are always looking for some sort of outrage or some sort of event to make themselves seem important or to grab a headline. And then the damage control starts and the politicians run away so that they don't end up on the Evening News.

      I don't think America as a nation has run away from a space program or space exploration, but I do think our *government* considers it either a joke or a pork barrel. And that is why I hope commercial exploration keeps moving forward.

      If they succeed, which I think they are quite capable of, China will prove that we are held back less by the difficulty of the task of the Moon, or a Moon base, or going to Mars, but rather by the difficulty of getting our politicians to pull their heads out of their asses to commit to it.

    2. Re:this is what you get by yodleboy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "What makes you think China doesn't also want to keep "the government pork flowing"

      Nothing at all. I have no doubt there's government pork involved. However, as the Chinese are relatively new to this manned spaceflight thing, the distribution of that pork is still up for grabs. Here in the US, it's been set for decades and there is probably no way to overcome the inertia associated with it (as far as NASA *** is concerned). Also, the Chinese government won't hesitate to take a heavy handed approach and squash anyone that gets in the way of the ultimate goal. In the US we'll let the NIMBY's and special interests add so many requirements and caveats to a government project that it drowns under the weight.

      Don't get me wrong, I'm not really advocating the Chinese way of doing things. I'm just pointing out that it's silly to dismiss their plan as BS, since they don't have to attempt to please everyone. I think 4 years is probably optimistic, but 8 years? yeah, they could do that. Meanwhile, NASA will probably still be running tests of new hardware in LEO and revising the "why we're behind schedule" paperwork again.

      ***I mean NASA the organization here, I have much respect for NASA the people.

  3. Re: 4 Years? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seriously, the causal racism on Slashdot these days is getting way out of hand and really really old (as you probably are)

  4. Re: No fscking chance! by Type44Q · · Score: 3, Funny

    I expect the sun to rise tomorrow; mind you, no one promised anything of the sort but still... I hold out hope. ;)

  5. The kickstart we need by firesyde424 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Honestly, it's my personal opinion that the US needs someone else to beat us to a major milestone in space. We've fallen into a bit of a winners dilemma. We've beaten everyone else, why do we need to keep trying? I think if China beats the US to Mars, you'll see the political will materialize around the space program again.

    1. Re:The kickstart we need by chihowa · · Score: 4, Informative

      Honestly, it's my personal opinion that the US needs someone else to beat us to a major milestone in space. We've fallen into a bit of a winners dilemma. We've beaten everyone else, why do we need to keep trying? I think if China beats the US to Mars, you'll see the political will materialize around the space program again.

      For the most part, the US got whomped by the USSR in major milestones in space. Besides landing a human on the moon and some amazing unmanned planetary and outer system probes, they beat us at nearly every early milestone: ICBM, probe to orbit, animal in space, human in space, spacewalk, woman in space, probe to moon (orbit, impact, and soft landing), image of dark side of moon, return of moon sample to earth, space station, ...

      Your last sentence is spot on, though. Getting beat by the Russians was the perfect motivator for our space program.

      --
      If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
  6. Re:Finally by Areyoukiddingme · · Score: 4, Informative

    They have't started shit. So far, they're just TALKING shit.

    Well yes and no. They did land a rover on the moon recently. It croaked during the first lunar night, but it worked up until then. So they are building hardware and successfully soft-landing it places that aren't Earth. They aren't random space nutters wishing out loud. They're engineers with a proven track record, orbiting multiple humans and landing a moon rover. Western media carefully forgets that China has engineers and astronauts with orbital experience, not just sub-orbital.