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China wants to build communism on the moon. How can Russia help you in this?

Date: March 29, 2024 Time: 21:06:09

The classic cover of TIME magazine in 1968 showed an American and a Soviet cosmonaut running for the Moon (left). In 2019, a “remake” of the cover was released (on the right): two pilots from private space companies and a taikonaut were added to the American, but the Russian conqueror of the moon, alas, disappeared.

Exactly 50 years ago, on December 19, 1972, the American spacecraft “Apollo 17” made the last landing of people on the moon today. Over the past half century, we have grown accustomed to the fact that intense rivalry between space powers is a thing of the past, and news about the development of orbital space has become a routine of interest only to specialists. However, in the next few years, that will all change thanks to China’s super-ambitious space program. The authorities of the Celestial Empire are seriously determined to be the first to build a permanent station on a natural satellite of the Earth. So, the moon race begins again!

FIRST LIQUIDATION

China plans to build a complete lunar base by 2028, which means the first stage of the project should start in 2023.

The base will most likely be located in the South Pole region of the Moon and will consist of a lander, residential and work buildings, an orbiter, and a “vehicle fleet” of lunar rovers. At the same time, as the chief designer of the Chinese lunar program, Wu Weiren, said at the end of November, the Chinese want to build a real nuclear power plant on the moon! True, very small.

According to the South China Morning Post, there are still no technical details about the nuclear reactor under construction. It is only known that scientists want to make available enough electricity to heat and light hundreds of homes throughout the year. The nuclear power plant will have to work to meet the long-term electricity needs of the lunar station to make it independent of sunlight.

And taikonauts (unlike Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts called Chinese space explorers) will need a lot of electricity, because not only high-capacity lunar rovers, communication and research equipment will work from current, but also equipment for the production of oxygen and water. production.

However, according to experts, at first we are not talking about a full base, but rather about a point of temporary stay, where taikonauts can fly for a period, and then they get stuck and leave to wait for the next batch of ” space”. explorers”.

For Beijing, the “settling” of the Moon is not an end in itself, because the base on the satellite is necessary, among other things, as an intermediate stage for flights to Mars. And there, perhaps, launches to other planets of the solar system are waiting in the wings.

Photo: Roscosmos

This project of a joint Russian-Chinese lunar station was presented by Roscosmos in 2021. The illustration shows: 1 – scientific probe, 2 – observatory, 3 – nuclear power modules, 4 – scientific laboratories, 5 – command center, 6 – solar energy modules, 7 – planet Earth, 8 – communication center and communication tower with the Earth, 9 and 10 – resource processing points, 11 – telecommunication sensors, 12 – lunar vehicle.

UNCLE SAM VS.

But America would not be America if it watched indifferently as the Chinese palm the moon from under their noses. According to the plans now announced, the United States is planning its own base on the Earth’s satellite in 2030. But it is logical to assume that, given Beijing’s plans, they will try to accelerate.

As Emil Saifullin, an expert at the Russian International Affairs Council, told KP, the Americans today are promoting the idea of ​​free exploration of the resources of the Moon and other space objects by commercial companies. In 2015, the United States passed the Commercial Space Launch Competition Act, which allowed American corporations and citizens to claim their share of the moon pie. The calculation is simple: in the pursuit of superiority in the moon race, Uncle Sam enlists the help of the richest people. For example, Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos, who have their own private space companies.

But China also has its own trump card up its sleeve, and this is Russia! The two friendly countries have already agreed on cooperation in the lunar direction, and our country’s vast experience as the first in space will of course be helpful to Beijing.

QUESTION – RIB

Why do they need it?

Vasily Kashin, Doctor of Political Science, Associate Professor of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs of the Higher School of Economics:

– China has several tasks that it plans to solve during the exploration of the moon. First of all, it is about the development of fundamental science, which will bring more practical branches, such as materials science. In addition, the creation of the first non-Earth base in the history of mankind will seriously increase the international prestige of the PRC in all spheres. And in the long term economic profitability is also possible, for example, the same mining,

In general, I think that the moon base project may well be implemented by Beijing, albeit with a slight deviation in the dates. Delays in such ambitious undertakings are inevitable. Chinese space projects generally run on schedule, so if there is a delay, it’s most likely not critical.

At the same time, I want to point out a feature of the PRC program for the development of near-Earth space, which distinguishes it from the American and Soviet initiatives during the space race of the 1960s. Beijing does not accelerate its work in this area to the detriment of security. For example, if a project has a high risk of technological accident or loss of life, the Chinese are likely to spend additional resources and postpone the practical implementation of their idea until they are sure of its safety.

If we talk about possible options for cooperation between Russia and China in the lunar program, then a lot will depend on how much Moscow is ready to invest in this project. We have interesting technologies, including those left over from Soviet cosmonautics, but many of them are also known in the PRC, which, in the 1990s, gained access to documentation of the USSR’s unfinished lunar project.

* This website provides news content gathered from various internet sources. It is crucial to understand that we are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented Read More

Puck Henry
Puck Henry
Puck Henry is an editor for ePrimefeed covering all types of news.
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