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Moon NASA Space

South Korea Plans Moon Landing By 2020 (examiner.com) 74

MarkWhittington writes: The Korean Herald has reported that the South Korean Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning has started a lunar exploration program, allocating funding to place a probe in orbit around the moon and a small lander and rover on the surface of the moon by 2020. The United States and the government of South Korea have also made a space cooperation agreement, fueling speculation that NASA will participate in the South Korean moon shot.
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South Korea Plans Moon Landing By 2020

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  • by Anonymous Coward

    Capitalist lackeys in South Korea behind victorious North Korea in moon landings!

  • by omnichad ( 1198475 ) on Monday February 29, 2016 @01:49PM (#51609707) Homepage

    Is this only because of North Korea's rocket test?

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Both halves of Korea want to be united, but the Kim Jongs will never accept a union where they are not dictator-for-life and South Korea will never accept being ruled by a Kim Jong dictator-for-life. As such, a lot of the public actions of each side are primarily political posturing to impress/intimidate the other (secondary benefits related to the rest of this wet rock may be a side factor).

      North Korea shows a little satellite make a reasonably stable orbit, now South wants to get in on the competition an

      • At this point I'm dubious SK wants to reunite with NK. The financial burden that NK would represent would dwarf even what East Germany represented to West Germany. The economy of NK is beyond basket case territory, and the only reason the country even exists is because China props it up and NK every once in a while blusters itself into financial aid from other parts of the world (oh, and arms sales).

        • If North Korea were smarter, they'd threaten to surrender and allow annexation by South Korea. They could demand billionsin bribes in exchange for taking that threat of economic devastation off the table.

      • by kuzb ( 724081 )

        No, South Korea doesn't want North Korea because then they'd have all the headaches of being bordered by China. North Korea is allowed to exist because it provides a buffer. All the reasons for the south not conquering the north are purely political and financial.

  • it would really be interesting if private companies from japan , korea, china, taiwan, etc, etc, enter space.

    if there is real money to be made in space, they would leave much hyped private 'space' companies in usa in the dust, same way they left most western industries in the dust.

    but i don't think they wont, because there isn't any real money in it, just government subsidies.

  • South Korea planning to develop ICBM technology in response to the North.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Wouldn't they only need a CBM?
  • Possibly they just want to have a foothold there before China sends up a dredge and claims that the Moon has always been part of Chinese territory?

  • by penguinoid ( 724646 ) on Monday February 29, 2016 @02:33PM (#51610061) Homepage Journal

    They're planning to go to the moon by 2020. We're planning to build a permanant manned moon base by 2020 [telegraph.co.uk].

    • yeah... the difference is when they say planning, they mean doing by 2020, when we say planning, we mean the planning might be complete by 2020, at which time the project will be deemed unworkable and planning will start again. I don't think NASA has a clue how to make it happen. I don't mean technically, I mean how to actually get a manned moon colony funded and delivered mostly on time and on budget. NASA plays politics worse than anyone.
  • Why would South Korea need to colonize the Moon?, Reverend Sun Myung Moon has already already colonized the USA (and one of the reasons that Louis Ferrakhan and G.W. Bush are 2 bacon-spaces apart).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

  • The more countries that start space programs, the less likely a human will again set foot on the moon.
    • please explain your logic for that assertion; seems the opposite would be true

      • I think the OP is saying that joint efforts are more productive and tens of countries pursuing the goal in isolation.

      • Yes !!

        Paradoxical isn't it?

        The world is becoming more talk and less action.

        The politicians (in this case Obama and Bush) come out with their press conferences and say, "Look what we planned to do !!" And they get their headlines.

        But when it comes to allocating funds, there is no commitment.

        Furthermore people in this generation put in more hours and accomplish less. It's a kind of restless, faithless energy that seeks only to look productive and professional while yielding no returns.

        "Do no
    • by Maritz ( 1829006 )
      If the cost drops it doesn't make any difference.
      • The cost of labor has only climbed since the 60's (when the last man walked on the Moon, who was from the US btw).

        Back in the 1960's NASA didn't have to pay for drug counciling for all its employees. Back then people couldn't hang out in the emergency room and get free health care that everyone else paid for. Back then semi-ordinary people were engineers enough to build bridges. Back then people carried through their work to completion with a commitment to integrity. Back then NASA wasn't saddled with th
  • because the moon is nothing compared to the sun, just as South Korea is nothing compared to Best Korea.
  • by T.E.D. ( 34228 ) on Monday February 29, 2016 @04:18PM (#51610709)

    That you can make a moon landing implies you have the capability of creating a rocket that can accurately leave the atmosphere, return through the atmosphere, and hit the rough vicinity of a designated target. That's also what nuclear-tipped ICBMs have to do. But of course, other countries on this planet that might see themselves targets of yours might plausibly paint you as a horrible warmonger if you just announce that you now have the capability of launching nuclear ICBMs at them. But nobody can complain about a "moon landing". That's noble!

    This is why "moon landing" has always been geopolitical code for "ICBM capability". Its likely no mistake South Korea is announcing this now, while North Korean has been a particularly unstable pest recently.

    • Option 1: Fire a cheap missile westward a few hundred miles to hit any part of North Korea.
      Option 2: Build ICBMs so you can fire a missile eastward 24,000 miles to circle the entire planet and hit North Korea from the west.

    • A cryogenic fuel ICBM is terrible for quickly sending a bomb less than 500 km away. South Korea has no one to target beyond that, unlike North Korea who wishes to threaten the much further USA.

      However, it is useful for upstaging North Korea who got to orbit first. Like USA using the Moon Landings to upstage the Sputnik and Gagarin achievements.
  • ...that this is actually being funded by one of the top K-Pop factory [spin.com] producers?

    Don't get me wrong, I would love to see a BigBang [youtube.com] / 4Minute [youtube.com] collabo shot on-location at Mare Crisium...or Girls' Generation [youtube.com] / EXO [youtube.com]...or Super Junior [youtube.com] / Red Velvet [youtube.com] *fades off into kpop-induced daydreams*

    It's true, tho. Once you k-pop, you just...can't...stop...which is why this [youtube.com] is my ringtone...and this [youtube.com] is my alarm clock...etc, etc, etc ;-) :-S

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