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Just as a comparison: China's current technologies concerning space exploration are similar to what the U.S. had in the Seventies, plus some modern Russian support.
Sure, they have their own small space station (like Skylab or the old Soviet stations) but that is nothing compared to the ISS.
Sure, they can land a rover on the moon (like the US and Soviet Union regularly did) but NASA/ESA has already landed stuff in the outer solar system, on Mars and has a bunch of exploration probes throughout the system.
And there is a reason why the Russians don't pull off a manned moon mission. They have the technology already. Thing is that it's just a prestige project at this point. Aside from moon rock there is nothing to be gained by such a mission.
China is far from catching up in terms of pure technology, however, what they do have is funding for space agencies that has been missing in the West and Russia since the end of the Cold War.
People need to remember that a manned Mars mission could have been pulled off decades ago - it's just the funding that isn't there.
[–]The_Cat0 points
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Aside from moon rock there is nothing to be gained by such a mission.
That's so wrong I don't even know where to begin. Fuck, all the possibilities if we go back. Deploying more seismometers, new mirrors, studying human habitation on the moon, sending an actual geologist to go study moon rocks on the moon, taking core samples, setting up an astronomical outpost, ISS-like experiments of the effects of low gravity on living things, ...
One astronaut with a shovel will teach us more about the moon in a day than we've uncovered in a decade from here.
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[–] Dfens 1 point 0 points 1 point (+1|-1) ago
We squandered more than a 50 year technology lead in space exploration. History will not be kind.
[–] Apeabel ago
That's just wrong.
Just as a comparison: China's current technologies concerning space exploration are similar to what the U.S. had in the Seventies, plus some modern Russian support. Sure, they have their own small space station (like Skylab or the old Soviet stations) but that is nothing compared to the ISS. Sure, they can land a rover on the moon (like the US and Soviet Union regularly did) but NASA/ESA has already landed stuff in the outer solar system, on Mars and has a bunch of exploration probes throughout the system. And there is a reason why the Russians don't pull off a manned moon mission. They have the technology already. Thing is that it's just a prestige project at this point. Aside from moon rock there is nothing to be gained by such a mission.
China is far from catching up in terms of pure technology, however, what they do have is funding for space agencies that has been missing in the West and Russia since the end of the Cold War. People need to remember that a manned Mars mission could have been pulled off decades ago - it's just the funding that isn't there.
[–] The_Cat 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
That's so wrong I don't even know where to begin. Fuck, all the possibilities if we go back. Deploying more seismometers, new mirrors, studying human habitation on the moon, sending an actual geologist to go study moon rocks on the moon, taking core samples, setting up an astronomical outpost, ISS-like experiments of the effects of low gravity on living things, ...
One astronaut with a shovel will teach us more about the moon in a day than we've uncovered in a decade from here.