Foreign media: landing on the back of the moon to show the ambition of China's space power

According to foreign media, in October 2018, Neil Armstrong’s biographer, The First Man on the Moon, was filmed by Damian Shazel. The film caused an uproar because it did not show the moment when the Americans put the flag on the moon. When the Americans quarreled for the first person on the moon, China was preparing to launch the No. 4, which successfully landed on the back of the moon on January 3.

This is the image of the Yulu No. 2 patrol camera on the No. 4 lander terrain map camera. Photo courtesy of the National Space Administration.

Institutional advantage

The US "Washington Post" website published an article on January 10th saying that China's goal is to become the world's leading aerospace power by 2045, and its vision is also very different from the urgent reasons for the US-Soviet competition during the Cold War. The most important thing at the time was to put the flag on the moon and then turn to other gimmicks worth showing off.

The article believes that, in contrast, China is focused on developing permanent space power. Recently, by landing on the back of the moon, China has established an important base for resource development. It takes two to three years for the United States to complete its first robotic mission to the moon. The relative lead in space resources may determine who is the dominant force in the future.

The article said that in the future who can get rich space resources such as water or ice, iron, titanium, platinum and nickel; who can ensure the trade route; who can make space business rules, such as energy propellant and precious metal trading; who will benefit from Military power from industrial strength? Most people think about space exploration; what actually affects the future is space development.

According to the article, China's space strategy involves establishing a lunar industrial infrastructure to enter outer space in a cost-effective manner. The fourth is the first step: demonstrating the ability to communicate, log in, investigate and monitor the location of future industrial and logistics bases. The mission ensured China's access to the resource-rich lunar South Pole and pioneered the ability to develop space resources and industrialize the moon to build solar satellites, exploit rich minerals from the moon and asteroids.

According to the article, it is estimated that the lunar poles contain hundreds of millions of tons of water, enough to fuel the numerous space missions that reach the farthest point in the solar system; enough to explore the resources of the asteroid belt; enough to expand logistics for large-scale industrialization; Enough to develop military logistics in near-Earth space.

According to the article, the competition to be observed is not China’s manned moon landing, but the competition between China’s robotic detectors and NASA’s “Lunar Commercial Carriage Service Plan”, which will determine the Develop comparative advantages in the field of lunar resources.

According to the article, because China has a highly coordinated and disciplined system that can establish and maintain long-term goals, and has a large population and talented people, it occupies favorable conditions for winning space races.

Influence affects the world

The Australian "Dialogue" website published on January 4th, Wendy Whitman Cobb, an associate professor of political science at Cameron University in the United States, entitled "China's landing on the moon will trigger a new round of space competition? The article said that on January 3, China became the first country to land on the back of the moon. Landing on the back of the moon is a technical achievement in itself and an achievement that Russia and the United States have not pursued.

The article said that the No. 4 detector is a symbol of the development and strength of China's space program and is of great significance to the relationship between China and the world's major powers. The impact has been passed to the United States, and the Trump administration is considering space races and space exploration prospects.

The article said that historically, one of the main drivers of US space policy was competition with Russia, especially in the context of the Cold War. If China continues to succeed, will the US find itself in a new round of space competition?

The article said that in addition to manned space flight, the Chinese also carried out such space research activities as the No. 4. Its first lunar probe, the Chang'e-1, entered the lunar orbit in 2007, and in 2013 China's lunar rover achieved its moon landing. China's future plans include the creation of a new space station, a lunar base and the possibility of a Mars sampling return mission.

The article believes that the most striking feature of China's space program is slow and steady, especially compared to the early plans of the United States and Russia. Because China's space program is confidential, it is unclear what capabilities it has. However, China's plan may not be the same as its rivals.

The article said that in terms of military applications, China has also proved extraordinary skills. In 2007, China conducted an anti-satellite test, launching a land-based missile to destroy a failed meteorological satellite. The US Department of Defense pointed out in the Chinese military report in 2018 that China’s military space program is “developing rapidly”.

The article believes that although China has relevant capabilities, the United States has not conducted any substantive cooperation with it for national security considerations. In fact, a US law in 2011 prohibited official contact with Chinese space officials. Does this indicate that the United States and China are entering a new space race?

The article said that the answer is both positive and negative. Some US officials, including the National Space Council Executive Secretary Scott Pace, are cautiously optimistic about the potential of the cooperation and believe that a new round of space competition has not begun. NASA Director Jim Bridsenstein recently met with the head of China's space program during the International Aerospace Congress in Germany and discussed areas of possible cooperation between China and the United States. However, competition is intensifying. The Trump administration has demanded the addition of a new independent service, the space force, on the grounds of threats from China and Russia.

The article believes that in any case, China's space capabilities are rapidly developing and have been reflected in popular culture. In Andy Weir's 2011 novel "Mars Rescue" and later filmed in the same name, NASA turned to China for help in the rescue of troubled astronauts. On the one hand, competition may drive technological progress, as evidenced by the first round of space competition; at the same time, stronger global space exploration capabilities may not only help save the astronauts who are in trouble, but also increase our survival for ourselves. Understanding of the universe. Even if China’s rise heralds a new round of space competition, not all effects are negative.