Chinese will be first to return to moon: Cernan

[beijingwalker]

The Canadian Press

Date: Thursday Nov. 3, 2011 6:38 AM ET

OTTAWA — Former Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon almost 40 years ago, is worried China will beat other nations back to the shiny orb.

"There's no question in my mind at all that they are going to develop the capability to go to the moon and probably establish colonies there to take advantage of some of the resources that are on the moon," he said on Wednesday.

China moved one step closer to setting up its own space station with the successful docking of two unmanned spacecraft above the Earth which was announced Thursday morning.

Cernan spent more than 70 hours on the lunar surface in December 1972 along with fellow U.S. astronaut Harrison Schmitt during the Apollo 17 mission.

He said China is "eight or ten years away" from landing on the moon and when they get there they are going to literally almost own it because no other countries have any plans to go there.

"The Chinese have a long-term plan that's going to leave the rest of us behind quite frankly and I'm worried about it," he said in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Cernan said if China assumes a position of leadership in space, "it's going to have significant negative effects on western civilization, particularly the United States -- for many years to come."

The 77-year-old former astronaut made the comments at the First Aerospace Summit where he was also the keynote speaker.

The conference has been organized by the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada.

During his speech, Cernan talked about his three-day visit to the moon and presented a slide show with spectacular photos of the dusty landscape.

He vividly remembered standing on the ladder of the lunar module as he was about to leave the moon's surface and looked at the Earth.

"I came to the conclusion, whatever it meant that, indeed I had a rare opportunity of what I considered sitting on God's back porch and looking at a little bit of his creation," Cernan said.

 

[beijingwalker]

Moon Wars: International law could let China own the moon
Planetary real estate could be the next international space race
by Taylor Hatmaker | Last updated 2:11PM EDT on October 20, 2011

With commercial spaceflight (literally) launching soon, the U.S. private sector isn't the only group stepping up its space game. China just sent its 8.5-ton Tiangong-1 space station module skyward, and now the country could be poised to stake out the moon for its own.

At the 2011 International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight, aerospace entrepreneur and commercial space expert Robert Bigelow made the case that the U.S. is just resting on its lunar laurels — and China might make a big move. In the scenario, China will continue to ramp up its space program for the next ten years, a trend the country has already expressed clear interest in pursuing. Then, based on murky international space laws, China could actually take ownership of the moon — especially if it were able to defend its claim with a constant lunar human presence. Of course, the U.S. could do the same, but is limited by a tightening space budget and a much higher level of national debt.

But who does own the moon? Technically, either no one or anyone who says they do. In 1967, the United Nations published a document (Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies) declaring that space is "the province of all mankind" and can't be divvied up, according to international space law. Many space-faring countries signed onto the agreement, but some enterprising commercial groups are still in the business of "selling" parcels of the moon to private entities, claiming that space law only applies to nations.

While the broader Outer Space Treaty found wide international support (China and the U.S. included) when it was drafted, nations have been reluctant to commit to a more recent U.N. document known as the Moon Treaty (or Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies). The treaty stipulates that no state can claim sovereignty over any territory of celestial bodies, but nations like China, the U.S. and Russia are conspicuously absent. To date only 13 nations have been signed on and ratified, none of which have an established space presence.

 

[navtrek]

Owning the moon is an exaggeration. However the Chinese space programme will surely play a vital role in increasing our knowledge abt the Moon.

Such missions would also encourage other nations to work on joint space missions to the moon like India's Chandrayan.

 

[gambit]

Am willing to bet that IF Chinese astronauts do make it to the Moon, people are more willing to believe that than they are willing to discard their conviction that the US staged its own Moon landings.

 

[Chogy]

Am willing to bet that IF Chinese astronauts do make it to the Moon, people are more willing to believe that than they are willing to discard their conviction that the US staged its own Moon landings.

Well, considering we now have hi-res pictures taken from the lunar orbiter that show the various Apollo landing sites, the "fake moon landing" people have lost most of their steam.

I don't think a lunar base would do much of anything for whoever does it. Lunar resources? Like vacuum, and dirt, and a smidge of ice? They can have it. I love the notion of space exploration as much as anybody, but hard realisms get in the way, and until we have some sort of propulsion breakthrough, we are going to be stuck between the orbits of Earth and Mars.

 

[beijingwalker]

Well, considering we now have hi-res pictures taken from the lunar orbiter that show the various Apollo landing sites, the "fake moon landing" people have lost most of their steam.

I don't think a lunar base would do much of anything for whoever does it. Lunar resources? Like vacuum, and dirt, and a smidge of ice? They can have it. I love the notion of space exploration as much as anybody, but hard realisms get in the way, and until we have some sort of propulsion breakthrough, we are going to be stuck between the orbits of Earth and Mars.

personally I dont think US moon landing was a hoax,but better to have someone else to be there to prove it to the world.

 

[unicorn]

(Reuters) - The original recordings of the first humans landing on the moon 40 years ago were erased and re-used, but newly restored copies of the original broadcast look even better, NASA officials said on Thursday.

Moon landing tapes got erased, NASA admits | Reuters

 

[Chogy]

Picture taken recently by the lunar orbiter... Of course a few people still claim "fake! photoshop!" but the truth is there.

 

[gpit]

The core of the article reveals a vivid picture that the westerners are not viewing the conquering of Universe by China as a common achievement of mankind.

Rather they view it as a crushing subversion of western norms by a once westerner-subdued nation.

Perhaps more, they view it as a defeat of western civilizations: how could an authoritarian country win over vast democratic systems? How could a proven dominating Western civilization crumble/lag behind before a unique but strange, human-rights abusive Eastern system?

It's a pain in their @ss and heart to see China being prosperous and strong with different voice.

 

[Chogy]

Not really. The attitude is more like "Been there, done that, it's expensive and difficult for little return."

Things like the probes to Mars, the Hubble space telescope, and probes to the outer solar system have given us vastly more scientific return than the moon landings. The latter were as much a race with the USSR as a scientific endeavor.

 

[anon45]

Not really. The attitude is more like "Been there, done that, it's expensive and difficult for little return."

Things like the probes to Mars, the Hubble space telescope, and probes to the outer solar system have given us vastly more scientific return than the moon landings. The latter were as much a race with the USSR as a scientific endeavor.

This.

Those who 'worry' that China will own the moon have motivations to do so. Bigelow is looking for profit. Our astronaut here wants a revival of public and politic interest in manned spaceflight. I don't know his views well enough to understand whether that means NASA specifically or American manned spaceflight in general.

That said i'm aptly watching to see whether commercial entities such as SpaceX will change the equation, and agree with his desire to see a revival and expansion in American manned spaceflight capability. Looking forward to their launch in January.

 

[fast]

Where are the Indians on this? They kept claiming to beat the Chinese to land on the Moon. Are they not going to deliver again?

 

[IndoCarib]

Where are the Indians on this? They kept claiming to beat the Chinese to land on the Moon. Are they not going to deliver again?

When did any Indian claim we will beat China on manned moon mission ? Are you seeing stars ? And why are you NOT worried that China will upstage the Americans in space technology ?? If you were real American you would be worried about the Chinese.

 

[roadrunner]

if true, and i were one of the taikonauts, i'd probably uproot the american flag upon landing in my lunar lander, say previously it was filmed in a studio, plant a chinese flag and say the moon is mine. actually i might not use a flag, i'd etch a giant roadrunner onto the moon's surface so everyone could see it visually.

 

[manojb]

I dont think china hasability to land men nd retrieve. Unless they have optimus prime