(Text/Observer Network, Liu Bai)
China is steadily advancing its manned lunar landing plan, while the Americans on the other side are constantly looking around and feeling uneasy.
According to a report by CBS on July 5th, NASA Administrator James Insall stated that the United States is currently engaged in a space race with China. Both parties are competing to achieve manned lunar landings and to establish long-term presence on the moon. He believes that China has the capability to achieve manned lunar landings by 2030, while the United States plans to complete a return to the moon by landing there by the end of 2028, and further build lunar bases to pave the way for future manned missions to Mars.
Isaacman said in a CBS program called "Face the Nation" that the speed of China's space development is "incredible," and that "China certainly has the capability to achieve things that the Soviet Union failed to do during the first space race."
According to the current schedule announced by the United States, NASA plans to send astronauts back to the moon in 2028. China aims to have Chinese astronauts reach the moon before 2030.
However, Isaacman emphasized that the time difference between the two sides is far less than what the outside world imagines.
They considered 2029 as a year of reckoning. Our target was to achieve lunar landing by the end of 2028, he said. "The difference between us is just a few months, not years," he continued.
Isaacman in an interview with CBS
Isaacman further stated that it is ‘undoubtedly true’ that Chinese will definitely send astronauts to the moon. He said that the real question is whether the United States can return to the moon before China, and ‘whether this time it will be done in a different way’.
He said that the United States not only wants to land on the moon again, but also to build lunar bases and establish a long-term, sustainable presence. “I think the answer is yes.”
In April this year, NASA completed the Artemis 2 lunar orbit mission, with four astronauts conducting a circumlunar flight. Earlier this month, NASA announced the crew list for the next Artemis mission, which is scheduled to be carried out next year.
According to NASA’s plans, Artemis 3 will focus on verifying the critical landing system required for manned lunar landings. It is an important step toward achieving manned lunar landings again in 2028.
Isaacman explained that during the 'Artemis 3' mission, the 'three most powerful rockets in the world' will conduct collaborative tests in Earth's orbit. The overall process is similar to the 'Apollo 9' mission during the Apollo program, aimed at verifying the performance of various systems and establishing confidence for the 'Artemis 4' lunar landing mission in 2028.
This is a plan that can be implemented, enough to return astronauts to the lunar surface. He said.
Meanwhile, NASA will also advance the construction of the lunar base concurrently. Isaacman stated that starting in 2027, NASA plans to launch missions at a rate of nearly ‘once a month’, gradually establishing the ability to permanently reside on the moon, and turning the moon into an important testing platform before humans set foot on Mars.
He expects that NASA will begin building a lunar base starting next year. By 2028, when astronauts return to the moon, equipment such as lunar rovers will already be deployed on the surface of the moon, and some infrastructure will have been built. By 2029, even more facilities will be put into use.
Looking forward, Isaacman believes that by the early 2030s, the moon will gradually develop into a long-term research platform similar to the International Space Station.
"At that time, astronauts will carry out long-term stay tasks in that location," he said. "Humans will accumulate long-term survival and operation experience in the lunar environment and prepare for the ultimate implementation of manned lunar landing on Mars."
It is worth noting that in recent years, the United States has continuously regarded China as its main competitor in the space domain, and has been constantly hyping up the so-called “Chinese space threat”.
The British newspaper The Guardian previously reported that, unlike the 20th-century competition between the US and the Soviet Union in lunar missions, the new round of lunar competition is not just about who reaches the moon first, but also about who can sustain long-term lunar exploration missions and establish permanent presence on the moon. The report noted that China has been steadily advancing its lunar exploration project in recent years. Not only has it established a self-sufficient space station, but in 2024, through the Chang'e-6 mission, it became the first country to achieve a sample return from the far side of the moon. Currently, China is progressing with subsequent missions such as Chang'e-7 and manned lunar landings according to plan.
The Guardian also noted that NASA plans to land in 2028, but this may be delayed; China plans to land before 2030, and might even do so earlier.
They (China) have a very clear, very logical step-by-step plan to go to the moon. French astrophysicist and planetary scientist Pierre-Yves Mestran said that China has already proven itself capable of doing so. Once they make a decision, they will certainly do it.
