China Becomes First Country To Retrieve Rocks From the Moon's Far Side (nytimes.com) 55
China brought a capsule full of lunar soil [non-paywalled link] from the far side of the moon down to Earth on Tuesday, achieving the latest success in an ambitious schedule to explore the moon and other parts of the solar system. From a report: The sample, retrieved by the China National Space Administration's Chang'e-6 lander after a 53-day mission, highlights China's growing capabilities in space and notches another win in a series of lunar missions that started in 2007 and have so far been executed almost without flaw. "Chang'e-6 is the first mission in human history to return samples from the far side of the moon," Long Xiao, a planetary geologist at China University of Geosciences, wrote in an email. "This is a major event for scientists worldwide," he added, and "a cause for celebration for all humanity."
Such sentiments and the prospects of international lunar sample exchanges highlighted the hope that China's robotic missions to the moon and Mars will serve to advance scientific understanding of the solar system. Those possibilities are contrasted by views in Washington and elsewhere that Tuesday's achievement is the latest milestone in a 21st-century space race with geopolitical overtones. In February, a privately operated American spacecraft landed on the moon. NASA is also pursuing the Artemis campaign to return Americans to the lunar surface, although its next mission, a flight by astronauts around the moon, has been delayed because of technical issues. China, too, is looking to expand its presence on the moon, landing more robots there, and eventually human astronauts, in the years to come.
Such sentiments and the prospects of international lunar sample exchanges highlighted the hope that China's robotic missions to the moon and Mars will serve to advance scientific understanding of the solar system. Those possibilities are contrasted by views in Washington and elsewhere that Tuesday's achievement is the latest milestone in a 21st-century space race with geopolitical overtones. In February, a privately operated American spacecraft landed on the moon. NASA is also pursuing the Artemis campaign to return Americans to the lunar surface, although its next mission, a flight by astronauts around the moon, has been delayed because of technical issues. China, too, is looking to expand its presence on the moon, landing more robots there, and eventually human astronauts, in the years to come.
At least someone is doing it (Score:5, Informative)
I'll say it again, I'd rather not bow before my Chinese space overlords, but I'd rather China own space than all humans staying sitting on this rock with a ticking clock. Though hopefully something China does in space gets the rest of us properly back in space again, or the commercial space program gets the job done.
Whatever else I think of China's government, well done to their space program.
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...but I'd rather China own space than all humans staying sitting on this rock with a ticking clock.
Here's a thought. What if all the humans dealt with the ticking clock instead of the option you have suggested?
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...but I'd rather China own space than all humans staying sitting on this rock with a ticking clock.
Here's a thought. What if all the humans dealt with the ticking clock instead of the option you have suggested?
Event if we all come together to deal with human caused problems with planet earth, that clock is still ticking in ways we can't handle if we do not go into space, and even then we may need to find another rock or two to occupy.
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Pray, educate me as to these ticking clocks of which you speak
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what clock do you speak of, after we have solved human caused problems? that the sun will be going red in about 4 billion years?
Pray, educate me as to these ticking clocks of which you speak
That would be one, take your pick for others: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]. The most likely issue I would think are super volcanoes or ice ages (the latter apparently happens every 100-400k years with the last one being 128k years ago so that could happen any time. Sure if we get to space it will likely be in far less time than the next major event on earth, but I feel like we either have urgency to become a multi-planet or multi-system species, or if we delay it then likely we will never leave this
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I agree that space exploration for the technology it produces is another good benefit. It used to be that war moved technology forward the fastest, I'd much rather see competition like the space race driving technology advancements.
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As much as anything it was the military which put the brakes on Project Orion, they fiercely opposed any civilian use of nuclear explosives for any reason. For example Werner Von Braun reviewed their research on the second version, using almost fallout-free hydrogen explosions, and wrote a white paper endorsing Orion over his own chemical rockets. Because the paper mentioned the output of some of the military's weapons, information which was already freely available, they used that as an excuse to classif
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Pioneering spirit is gone. The rich nations, (who can afford this kind of venture) contain comfortable complacent populations. Compare this with the risks that third world migrants take to reach us, many perishing inn transit.
Re: At least someone is doing it (Score:2)
How in the fuck are you going to post that comment with that handle? Fucking poser.
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How the fuck? easy, I wanted to know what the original poster was thinking, so I fucking asked,
You fucking loser
Little combative of a response (or maybe just tit for tat), but I at least appreciated your question as sounding honestly asked to me.
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DrinkyPoo seems to know who the character Lazarus Long was/is and because that is my handle here (LazarusQLong to be pedantic about it) called me a fucking poser... Me, being cranky today,
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We have one choice, go to space and continue evolving, or stagnate here on Earth and follow the Neanderthals to extinction.
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Even if we all come together to deal with human caused problems with planet earth, that clock is still ticking in ways we can't handle if we do not go into space, and even then we may need to find another rock or two to occupy.
But wouldn't simply dealing with the ticking clock improve the lives of more people ultimately funding everything here and now?
Re: At least someone is doing it (Score:2)
Yes, dealing with the human caused ticking clock would be good for many reasons. I just kind of feel like "all of humanity coming together" to deal with anything will likely be an oxymoron, but I'd love to be proved wrong.
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...but I'd rather China own space than all humans staying sitting on this rock with a ticking clock.
Here's a thought. What if all the humans dealt with the ticking clock instead of the option you have suggested?
Event if we all come together to deal with human caused problems with planet earth, that clock is still ticking in ways we can't handle if we do not go into space, and even then we may need to find another rock or two to occupy.
I appreciate the sentiment, but that ticking clock is going to have to make the earth uninhabitable for China (or any earth country) to make a future for humanity. If Mars is pretty much a non-starter no mattter what one person and his cult think.
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Here's a thought. What if all the humans dealt with the ticking clock instead of the option you have suggested?
Dude, you're thinking way too small. Think about it, E. Musk just spawned his 12th offspring. [people.com] This is serious intergenerational shit man! To infinity and beyond!
Re: At least someone is doing it (Score:2)
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Good luck with dealing with a planet destroying asteroid.
Your comment reminds me of an old joke:
question: Do you believe in life after death?
answer: Of course I do! After you die, we'll all still be livin' hard!
me: As in who is gonna do the livin' and who gets to chose? But of course we have plenty of examples of this mentality in the world today. In other words, those people who consume an inordinate amount of earth's resources with inadequate compensation.
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Re: At least someone is doing it (Score:2)
Indeed. The easiest planet to terraform in our solar system is ... Earth. All other options are currently beyond our technological capabilities to settle. And planting flags does not bring our science much closer to building an atmosphere or magnetic shielding or any of the other things we humans need for long term habitation.
Re: At least someone is doing it (Score:2)
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Sorry. No leaving this rock. We are already declared, throughout the galaxy, to be an invasive species to be shot on site.
Who's to say that the only galactic species are not invasive species?
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They are aiming for human moon landings by 2030, and seem on track to do it. They are also looking at a Mars sample return mission, which has causes NASA to abandon trying to collect the carefully selected samples its rovers have deposited on the surface, and instead look to try to get anything at all back before China does.
Certainly seems like there is a new space race on.
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A lot of looking at doing things is happening, I'll believe it will happen when it happens (and they stop having significant issues like Starliner). At the same time I'm still hopeful, just less than trusting.
Re:At least someone is doing it (Score:4, Informative)
The Chinese or the US? I genuinely can't tell who you are talking about.
The Chinese space programme has been making steady progress. They have a space station and proven long duration missions. They have heavy lift rockets. They have mastered orbital rendezvous and docking. They have proven they can navigate to and land on the moon, and have communications satellites in lunar orbit to assist with access to the dark side.
They need to develop a vehicle for travelling to the moon, and a lander. They have the technology and time to do both by 2030.
The US... It all depends on their commercial contractors. SpaceX has to make Starship work and demonstrate refuelling in Earth orbit, landing on and returning from the surface of the Moon. Artemis has done an uncrewed trip around the moon, so needs to send a crew. They need to develop the Lunar Gateway station. And then finally make it all work together, since the plan is to transfer to Starship in lunar orbit for the trip down and back up.
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The Chinese or the US? I genuinely can't tell who you are talking about.
Yeah, quickly typed up and poorly responded. I feel like a lot of what NASA is doing is talking and not action, hopefully action will come. SpaceX is doing a lot of good engineering but hasn't reached practical missions beyond low earth orbit yet, though their progress is very promising. China is the only one that seems to be making practical progress into space, not just testing.
Or TLDR, your posting matches my current thoughts pretty well.
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NASA need to convince the herd of geriatric lawyers who run Congress to give them money before they can do any project whatsoever. They would have loved to do a Mars sample-return mission at any time in the last half a century, but now that it looks like China can do it they can go back to Congress and say, "You're going to lose the dick-waving contest if we don't do this right now!" Sad, but that's what it takes today to fund science.
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We’re going to space permanently. It was already going to happen, but SpaceX made it inevitable. It would have happened anyway, the interest existed.. Companies like blue origin, masten, xcor, would have evolved if SpaceX hadn't. But it was always inevitable. Space is too compelling to ignore.
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> Whatever else I think of China's government, well done to their space program.
Indeed! They've had a lot of important successes of late. For example, they are only the second nation to successfully land on Mars. (The Soviets claimed a successful landing, but it's borderline.)
Kerbal (Score:4, Insightful)
All Humanity? (Score:1)
I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.
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The words China and humanity sound very odd in the same sentence.
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You're an idiot.
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Really? Are you unaware that they're almost a fifth of all the humans that exist? Huh, education today must suck worse than I thought.
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You really are a dumb ass if you actually think I was referring to actual human numbers. The CCP acts inhuman, but you knew that. Go back to the rice patty you crawled out of.
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China gonna share their stuff like NASA did 50-some years ago?.
Probably not quickly like NASA, but some time in the future - link [cnn.com]
Once they receive the samples, Chinese scientists are expected to share data and carry out joint research with international partners, before Beijing later opens the samples for access by international teams, according to statements from CNSA officials.
International teams had to wait roughly three years to apply for access to samples from the Chang’e-5 mission, but some of the earliest published research on those samples was from teams of Chinese and international scientists.
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Re: All Humanity? (Score:2)
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Yes, they've already said that they will make the samples available to the worldwide scientific community. They said that before their first sample-return, and are following through on the promise. I doubt that this will be any different.
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soil (Score:2)
Soil, not rocks.