Thread: CHINA LANDS ON THE MOON.

The real thing here is the US does not want to acknowledge this and has no intention of wanting to share info. So sad.

Originally Posted by CraigE

The real thing here is the US does not want to acknowledge this and has no intention of wanting to share info. So sad.

perhaps because their space push has all but fallen over?

It will interesting to watch the Yanks reaction when China eventually lands a human on the moon. If the Yanks had not wasted so much of their resources participating in all their wars over the last 20 years, they might have been in a better position to follow up those tremendous strides they made in the 60's by landing a man on the moon.

With the quantum leap in robotics and digital control since the yanks were there, there is probably not much point in sending a human there until they're ready to attempt to live there for any period.

A massive amount of cost in the manned programs went towards life support for the astronauts.

There is already some significant interest from private organisations to develop lunar programs who will outsource their operations to interested parties.

I have no real idea what can be gained from the moon, but the Virgin programme just to have a flight into space is basically sold out.

Anyway I wont be going regardless.....you cant light a campfire on the road or chuck a line in and catch a fish or some yabbies.....and ya can't grab a coldie out of the esky and sit back and watch the sun go down when you get there either.

Originally Posted by ramblingboy42

With the quantum leap in robotics and digital control since the yanks were there, there is probably not much point in sending a human there until they're ready to attempt to live there for any period.

A massive amount of cost in the manned programs went towards life support for the astronauts.

There is already some significant interest from private organisations to develop lunar programs who will outsource their operations to interested parties.

I have no real idea what can be gained from the moon, but the Virgin programme just to have a flight into space is basically sold out.

Anyway I wont be going regardless.....you cant light a campfire on the road or chuck a line in and catch a fish or some yabbies.....and ya can't grab a coldie out of the esky and sit back and watch the sun go down when you get there either.

You are quite correct in that statement but the Chinese would like to prove that they can do it too, if the Yanks have done it. A lot of national pride is at stake.

In the footsteps of the US: Why next man on Moon will be Chinese - Science - News - The Independent

It really is a shame anything space related gets little coverage. I dont profess to be that knowledgable of the sciences involved , but it is still interesting , especially when bombarded with what is considered news worthy these days. I spent countless hours as a kid watching the moon landings.

The headline I saw stated " China Land Rover on the Moon " of course I read it as 'China Landrover on the moon' !!!

I say three cheers for China

Do the yanks even have a manned space vehicle programme at all now that the Space Shuttle is shelved, Last I read is that they were developing a copy of the Soviet Soyuz type vehicle

Was listening to 612 ABC the other day, some science guru was talking about the Chinese moon program. When asked what possible good could come of a moon landing, he said that the moon is full of rare minerals, has water in the form of ice, & can be used as a stepping off point for further afield. Apparently, the ice can be broken down to Hydrogen & oxygen, The H2 used to make rocket fuel. The guru went on to say there is an isotope, very rare on earth [helium?] that could be developed as a future source of power on Earth. The race is on for mining the Moon, it seems. Bob