CHINA’s master plan for the Moon includes fleets of autonomous robots, housing domes and, eventually, city-like infrastructure.
In a video depicting Beijing’s big ideas, released by China’s national space agency, viewers spotted a potential error.
The clip features a scene in which a NASA space shuttle rocket is taking off in the background.
NASA’s space shuttle program closed in August 2011 after four decades in the air amid budgetary pressures.
We are no longer satisfied with simple visits, we are here for long-term exploration.
China National Space Administration
The China Global Television Network blurred the space shuttle in one version of the video, according to The Verge.
But that didn’t stop viewers from spotting the “error”.
“It’s interesting to see a very ambitious vision of China’s ILRS moon base by 2045, but it’s amazing to see a retired space shuttle taking off in the background,” said one eagle-eyed observer. he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
‘Long-term exploration’
China’s space city located at the lunar south pole will “support humanity” in traveling to “deeper space,” according to the country’s space agency.
In translated subtitles, the space agency writes on the video: “We are no longer satisfied with simple visits, we are here for long-term exploration.
“The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) makes this vision possible.
“It will support long-term autonomous operation and short-term manned participation.”
It is understood that space agencies will need to use the Moon as a refueling base to fly to Mars and beyond.
By 2035, a basic model of the ILRS will be built to house lunar science experiments, according to the video.
Here, astronauts will use local resources such as lunar regolith to expand the base.
A decade later, in 2045, China aims to have a city-like base, in what it calls an “extended model” of the basic ILRS.
The base will be co-built by international partners, according to the China National Space Administration.
So far, the ILRS has nine member countries, including China, Russia, Venezuela, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, South Africa, Egypt and Thailand.
Turkey and, more recently, Nicaragua have also requested membership.
As things stand today, China intends to begin work on its Disneyland-sized International Lunar Research Base (ILRS) no sooner than 2028.
Beijing insists that its intentions for the ILRS are to collect samples and carry out “scientific exploration”.
Although NASA chief Bill Nelson believes China may actually be conspiring to claim the Moon as its own territory.
US vs China space race
By Millie Turner, technology and science reporter
Continuing chest pressure between the US and China has triggered a Renaissance for the 1960s space race.
And NASA chief Bill Nelson also didn’t shy away from calling it a “race”.
Both nations are taking their tech war around Earth – where the pair are currently spotted shaking fists over computer chips, AI and TikTok – to the stars.
While China was late to the first round of the space race, Beijing is investing heavily to become the second nation to land humans on the Moon by 2030.
Under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, China has spent about $14 billion (11.2 billion) on its ambitious space program in 2023, according to Statista.
Washington and Beijing currently have the most developed plans to secure separate permanent bases on the Moon of any country in the world.
But the White House and NASA intend to be the first to arrive.
In January, Nelson said he believed the “race” for China was over and that the US was heading towards its final stretch.
Nelson has openly expressed his fears if China puts them in office.
China’s military presence in the South China Sea signals how the country could behave on the lunar surface, Nelson said, which would violate the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.
Why the lunar south pole?
The lunar south pole has been a place of interest for all spacefaring nations, including India, Russia, China and the USA.
Last year, India made history by becoming the first country to land near the southern site.
A few days earlier, Russia also made a landing attempt at the South Pole, which ended in a forced landing.
NASA’s Artemis III mission aims to explore a region close to the lunar south pole.
The Artemis III mission is part of a decade-long program that is expected to culminate with a permanent lunar base by the end of the decade.
The south pole is, scientists believe, the most promising location for water-based ice, which will be critical to future human habitation on the Moon.
But the abundance of precious lunar materials that the winners of the space race will have almost exclusive access to may also be fueling the chase, experts say.
The south polar region is one of the most resource-dense areas on the Moon.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
