Yesterday, the unmanned Chang’e 6 spacecraft lifted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in the Chinese province of Hainan. The end goal is the back of the moon – and the ambition to be able to bring samples from there.
A decisive step towards being able to send Chinese astronauts to the moon before 2030, writes NBC News.
New space race
The moon has not been visited by humans since 1972, and so far only American astronauts have set foot there. There are now intensive investments from Nasa and Elon Musk’s SpaceX to be able to send people there again.
Nasa hopes to send humans to the moon by 2026, but forecasts have been pushed forward several times. After the progress of the Chinese space program and the ambitions of several nations to reach the moon, several experts believe that a new space race has arisen.
US concerns
NASA Chief Administrator Bill Nelson has repeatedly expressed concern that the US risks falling behind China – and according to him, there is a lot at stake.
– I don’t think it is completely unthinkable that China would suddenly say: “We are here. Stay away”, he says in an interview with Yahoo Finance.
China’s space program is linked to military activities to a greater extent than that of the United States, which several experts in the West have expressed concern about, according to NBC. Similar discussions have also arisen regarding Russia.
“It matters who gets there first”
According to Nelson, it is important that “the space is accessible to everyone”.
– It would be very unfortunate to move what has been going on on Earth for years. To take over territory and say “it’s mine” and then have people fight over it, he says.
Todd Harrison is a senior executive at the American Enterprise Institute think tank. He also emphasizes that China has achieved great success in its space program and is the one that has come the furthest behind the United States.
According to him, China and Russia as a common rival can put pressure on the American space program.
“It matters who gets there first, and it matters how you get there and what kind of coalition you have with you,” he told NBC.