The immediate future of the U.S., European, Japanaese and Chinese space programs is on the line this week as critical human and robotic operations are underway in orbits of the Earth and Moon. As Japan continues its multi-spacecraft Selene mission in lunar orbits, China is poised to send its first spacecraft to the Moon on a mission aided by the European Space Agency (ESA). The space shuttle Discovery is docked at the International Space Station for the most ambitious construction mission yet at the orbital outpost. Meanwhile, ESA is mapping plans to send probes to Jupiter, Saturn, asteroids and the Sun, as India prepares to loft its next-generation launch vehicle for the first time. We detail these advances and what they mean for the future in a special report over the next six pages.
China will take a key step in advancing its space capabilities this week with its Chang’e 1 lunar mission, assuming it can overcome such key challenges as tracking and control in deep space. A successful flight could open the way for China to launch a rover as early as 2012 and return Moon rocks by 2017.
Eventually, China—only the third nation to develop its own means of sending humans into space—may land a crew on the Moon. While no such effort is yet underway, it’s more than a pipe dream. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has said he believes China will land humans on the Moon before the U.S. returns there with astronauts.
But one step at a time. First, Chang’e 1 has to get out of Earth orbit this week.
It is interesting to see that the pseudo-race that has built up over going to the Moon. The US, Europe, Japan and now China are or are sending probes to the Moon. Russia is talking, but we'll see. It is really kewl to see the whole world sending out probes. While I am definitely guilty of wanting the US to be in the lead, I do want to see some competition: there's little pride when you're the only one in the race...
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