A new space race?

[Willem]

It looks to me like India and China are in a real rush to beat each other into space. I wonder if either of them will eventually send another man to the moon, the same way it happened between the Americans and the Soviets. It would be nice to see frankly, we've ignored the Moon far to long IMO.

India's space aspirations

[Immortal Wombat]

Yes. Goodness knows what amazing occurances may have taken place in our 31 year absence.

[yavoon]

obviously wombat if we have aspirations of deeper space travel the moon is very useful, not only as possible staging points, but also as a possible fuel source. and even more immediately as a sort of baby step.

so to get all uppity cuz u think the rocks still look the same really short sighted

[SlowwHand]

and yet so typical.

[Immortal Wombat]

Yeah, I agree, its a good place for all those reasons. But then what you mean is we've ignored the possibilities of manned voyages in deep-space for too long. Technology probably isn't up to dealing with a successful moon colony yet (it might survive, but noone would risk it), and the political and economic climates of the west are completely wrong for further space exploration. We simply won't have a second space-revolution within the near future.
The point of my previous post was to point out in a non-uppity way that 31 years in terms of both the moon and our technological advances is not very much. There isn't a lot we can do now that could have done (and probably did) then. Give it time 'til our tech can do something useful on the moon, then go back. Hopefully by space elevator.

What's short sighted is assuming the moon is a good place to be now simply because its there and we can.

[Willem]

Here's another article with some background info. Yavoon is right, the Moon could provide a very important staging area for travel throughout the solar system. There's some info on that at the bottom of the story.

The Legacy of Apollo

I've also read that the Moon can be a valuable source of Helium 3, an isotope that's been useful for nuclear fusion research, but which is very rare on Earth.

[Jack the Bodiless]

It would be good to see the Indians or Chinese do what America was unable to do: establish a permanent moonbase.

(Yes, America wasn't technologically unable to do that, but it was "unable" nevertheless)

The ISS is a dead-end in space. A moonbase has the potential to expand itself without having to lift every gram of construction material from Earth. And, eventually, to build more spacecraft from lunar materials.

And, yes, it's debatable whether we yet have the ability to make a fully self-sustaining artificial ecosystem. But the Moon is close enough for emergency resupply or evacuation, unlike Mars. Mars is much more hospitable, but everything HAS to work right or you're dead.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Immortal Wombat

What's short sighted is assuming the moon is a good place to be now simply because its there and we can.

The point isn't whether we can, we already know that, but whether India and China can. A space race between the two of them could alter their societies dramatically, allowing them to make some great leaps in many other areas, and also draw in more foreign investment. Plus it would no doubt get the Americans thinking about it again, since they probably wouldn't like the idea of China perhaps beating them to the punch sometime down the road in setting up a colony. A successful lunar landing by either of them would probably trigger a race to build the first colony in fact.

[Willem]

Originally posted by Jack the Bodiless


And, yes, it's debatable whether we yet have the ability to make a fully self-sustaining artificial ecosystem.

But the only way to know that for sure would be to set one up and see what happens. The research possibilities in that area alone would be invaluable for future plans of a Mars journey.

[C0ckney]

i think the idea of a moonbase built with 'made in china' components is the best thing on this thread

[Willem]

Originally posted by C0ckney
i think the idea of a moonbase built with 'made in china' components is the best thing on this thread

I agree, I'm getting rather burned out of all the doom and gloom stories in the news these day; it's kind of refreshing seeing something positive and constructive for a change.

[Eli]

It looks to me like India and China are in a real rush to beat each other into space

Neh.

China is going to send a manned capsule to orbit this year while India plans some very cheap moon satellite for 2008. Hardly a competition.

[Immortal Wombat]

I'd rather see a co-operative effort for a moonbase between the US, Europe, China and India...

[DaShi]

Not Russia?

[Willem]

Originally posted by Eli

It looks to me like India and China are in a real rush to beat each other into space

Neh.

China is going to send a manned capsule to orbit this year while India plans some very cheap moon satellite for 2008. Hardly a competition.

You should follow the links a bit more:

More info

Just because they're starting slowly doesn't mean it won't escalate. You have to look at it from the perspective of thier societies, not compare it to what the Americans and Russians are capable of. And even that race started out slowly. It wasn't until the Soviet's first manned mission that things really began to heat up.