China is drawing up plans to send astronauts to the Moon and Mars
JIUQUAN SATELLITE LAUNCH CENTER — Thirty years ago, the Chinese government launched a secret plan for its space program, the key objective of which is to build a satellite space station. 'by 2020.
At the time, the country was 11 years away from sending its first astronaut into space, and its space efforts were going through a period difficult: Chinese rockets failed in 1991, 1992, 1995 and twice in 1996 The worst failure, in 1996, was a rocket that tipped on its side, flew in the wrong direction and exploded 22 seconds after launch , flooding a Chinese village with debris and flaming fuel that killed or injured at least 63 people.
As major spaceflight projects in some countries have taken many years behind schedule, China completed in-orbit assembly of its Tiangong space station at the end of October, only 22 months later later than expected. And on November 29, the Shenzhou 15 mission lifted off from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center deep in the Gobi Desert and took three astronauts to the space station to begin the permanent occupation of the outpost. /p>
These manned spaceflight achievements, combined with recent space probes to the Moon and Mars, add to the evidence that China is running a regular space marathon rather than participating in a head-to-head space race with the United States. That China's space program is moving in the right direction towards its long-term goals was reinforced during a rare visit by foreign media to the country's heavily guarded desert rocket base for the November 29 launch - including lengthy interviews with senior Chinese space officials by in for The New York Times.
The Pentagon predicted in August that China would overtake US capabilities in space. space as early as 2045.
"I think it's entirely possible that they could catch up to us and overtake us, absolutely," Lt. Gen. Nina M. Armagno, director of staff of the United States Space Force, at a conference in Sydney the day before the Shenzhou launch. 15. "The progress they've made has been breathtaking - incredibly fast."
The Chinese program rolled off the starting line in 1986, decades after the heyday of the american-soviet war space race. It was then that Deng Xiaoping, China's supreme leader at the time, approved Project 863, a science and technology development program that included plans for a crewed spacecraft.
JIUQUAN SATELLITE LAUNCH CENTER — Thirty years ago, the Chinese government launched a secret plan for its space program, the key objective of which is to build a satellite space station. 'by 2020.
At the time, the country was 11 years away from sending its first astronaut into space, and its space efforts were going through a period difficult: Chinese rockets failed in 1991, 1992, 1995 and twice in 1996 The worst failure, in 1996, was a rocket that tipped on its side, flew in the wrong direction and exploded 22 seconds after launch , flooding a Chinese village with debris and flaming fuel that killed or injured at least 63 people.
As major spaceflight projects in some countries have taken many years behind schedule, China completed in-orbit assembly of its Tiangong space station at the end of October, only 22 months later later than expected. And on November 29, the Shenzhou 15 mission lifted off from China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center deep in the Gobi Desert and took three astronauts to the space station to begin the permanent occupation of the outpost. /p>
These manned spaceflight achievements, combined with recent space probes to the Moon and Mars, add to the evidence that China is running a regular space marathon rather than participating in a head-to-head space race with the United States. That China's space program is moving in the right direction towards its long-term goals was reinforced during a rare visit by foreign media to the country's heavily guarded desert rocket base for the November 29 launch - including lengthy interviews with senior Chinese space officials by in for The New York Times.
The Pentagon predicted in August that China would overtake US capabilities in space. space as early as 2045.
"I think it's entirely possible that they could catch up to us and overtake us, absolutely," Lt. Gen. Nina M. Armagno, director of staff of the United States Space Force, at a conference in Sydney the day before the Shenzhou launch. 15. "The progress they've made has been breathtaking - incredibly fast."
The Chinese program rolled off the starting line in 1986, decades after the heyday of the american-soviet war space race. It was then that Deng Xiaoping, China's supreme leader at the time, approved Project 863, a science and technology development program that included plans for a crewed spacecraft.
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