SPACE
Why is Space key for future generation ?
The new space race
BY DEVIKA RAO, THE WEEK US
PUBLISHED JANUARY 16, 2023
The original space race was a key part of the Cold War, when the U.S. and the USSR competed to be the first country on the moon. Now almost 70 years later, the U.S. is in a new space race with a new competitor: China.
Why is there a new space race? Simply put, the moon is prime real estate and both the U.S. and China want to stake their claim.
This year, the U.S. launched its 26-day Artemis I mission, sending an Orion space capsule around the moon before returning to Earth. This was a step toward the U.S. once again putting people on the moon, but this time with the hopes of a more permanent setup, writes Politico.
This objective is at risk because of China's lunar military potential. The country has expressed interest in landing taikonauts, the Chinese word for astronauts, on the moon as well as creating a space governance system. NASA has warned that China could potentially lay claim to prime resource areas on the moon under the guise of research, potentially barring others countries' access and potentially endangering U.S. satellites.
The U.S.-proposed moon base would likely be collaborative between multiple nations. However, in the 1990s, China was thought to have stolen U.S. space technology. This led to the Wolf Amendment, passed in 2011, which prevented NASA from ever collaborating with China. In turn, there are talks of China potentially launching a joint moon mission with Russia instead.
"It is a fact: we're in a space race," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "And it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, 'Keep out, we're here, this is our territory.'" He noted that China lays claim to the South China Sea despite it being considered international waters.
At the same time, China's space technology is rapidly improving raising worries that China might reach its goal earlier than expected.
China has shown quick advancement in space technology over the past year. One of the most prominent achievements was the launching of a new space station in November. The Shenzhou 15 mission launched three taikonauts, sending them to the newly built Tiangong space station to wrap up construction. This makes China just the third country to operate a space station, after the U.S. and Russia.
The new station is technologically advanced and can support other astro-goals that China hopes to accomplish including launching a new space telescope, running experiments on life in space, and launching missions to Mars, writes Forbes.
Along with the space station, China also launched robotic landers and rovers on the moon and Mars. In addition, the country was the first to use landers and rovers to collect samples from the far side of the moon, continues Politico. "It's entirely possible they could catch up and surpass us, absolutely," remarked Space Force Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno. "The progress they've made has been stunning — stunningly fast."
China's great improvements to its space program have concerned the U.S. government.
The U.S. and China have been experiencing tension for many years now, making this space race especially contentious. Recent political conflict has included the U.S. giving vocal support to Taiwan, a territory that China has long claimed. Additionally, China is a strong ally of Russia which the U.S. and other Western nations have condemned for its invasion of Ukraine. China may potentially launch a joint moon project with Russia, which would leave the U.S.'s space power and moon claim at even more significant risk.
China has been vying to solidify its standing as a frontrunner in innovation and combat, and landing on the moon could achieve that. The country has also shown that it may be able to set up communications between the Earth and the moon via existing satellites, which could spell trouble.
"There is potentially mischief China can do on the moon," Terry Virts, former commander of the International Space Station and Space Shuttle, commented to Politico. "If they set up infrastructure there they could potentially deny communications." China has responded to these claims saying, "Outer space is not a wrestling ground," and that, "China always advocates the peaceful use of outer space." China is also part of the Outer Space Treaty which prevents countries from staking a claim on celestial bodies.
Either way, the U.S. has also been working to get back on the moon, hoping to launch moon mission Artemis II by 2024, and Artemis III, which will put humans on the moon, by 2025, per The New York Times. However, China's moon landing date, "keeps getting closer and closer" according to Nelson, and the U.S. will only beat them there "the good Lord willing."
The Big Picture SPACE
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_ajm1xr
the solar system: le système solaire
outer space: l'espace
a light year: une année-lumière
an asteroid: un astéroïde
an astronomer: un astronome
a space buff: un fana de l'espace
the ESA (European Space Agency): l'Agence Spatiale Européenne
the conquest of space: la conquête de l'espace
the space race: la course dans l'espace
a space flight: un vol dans l'espace
astronautics: l'astronautique
airspace: l'espace aérien
the aerospace industry: l'industrie aérospatiale
an impetus: un élan
to journey: voyager
an explorer: un explorateur
a manned flight: un vol habité
a space suit: une combinaison spatiale
a space helmet: un casque d'astronaute
a crew: un équipage
a probe: une sonde
a spaceship, a rocket ship, a spacecraft: un vaisseau spatial
a lander: un véhicule spatial
a lunar rover: un véhicule lunaire
to blast off: être mis à feu
a launch pad: une rampe de lancement, pas de tir
the countdown: le compte à rebours
lift-off: l'envol
an engine: un moteur
a rocket engine: un propulseur de fusée, moteur-fusée
rocket fuel: Kérosène (de fusée)
a launch vehicle, a booster, a booster rocket: une fusée de lancement
a space rocket: une fusée interplanétaire
an airlock: un sas
to grasp: saisir
a surveillance satellite: un satellite espion
remote-controlled: télécommandé
to be in orbit / go into orbit: être en orbite / se mettre en orbite
to put a satellite in(to) orbit: mettre, placer un satellite en orbite
to land, to touch down: atterrir
touchdown: atterrissage ou amerissage ou alunissage
to land on the moon: alunir
to splash down: amerrir
splashdown: un amerrissage
weightlessness, zero gravity: l'apesanteur
Space science: la spatiologie
A spin-off: une retombée
satnav, global positioning system, GPS: Le GPS
A flying saucer: une soucoupe volante
an unidentified flying object, a UFO: un ovni
An alien, an alien being: un extra-terrestre
a Martian: un martien
a galaxy: une galaxie
a comet: une comète
a black hole: un trou noir
a meteorite: une météorite
astronomy: l'astronomie
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration): la NASA
a rocket: une fusée
a telescope: un téléscope
fuel: le carburant
a shuttle: une navette
a space station: une station spatiale
to launch: lancer
a satellite launcher: un lanceur de satellites
a missile: un missile
a communications satellite: un satellite de télécommunications
A weather satellite: un satellite météorologique
to propel: propulser
thrown together: créé à la va-vite
Sputnik (1957): 1er satellite artificiel lancé par les Soviétiques
the Apollo Project (1969): Programme Apollo, le programme spatial de la NASA mené durant la période 1961 - 1975 qui a permis aux États-Unis d'envoyer pour la première fois des hommes sur la Lune
to behave strangely: se comporter bizarrement
to be high on drugs: planer, être défoncé à cause de drogues
the International Space Station (ISS): la Station Spatiale Internationale (SSI)
a joint project: un projet commun
orbiting the Earth: orbitant autour de la Terre
staffed: habité
spacecraft: un vaisseau spatial
long-duration missions: missions longues
a byword for: un synonyme de
it's not rocket science!: ce n'est pas sorcier!
colloquial: familier, parlé, du style de la conversation
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that: Pas besoin d'être un génie pour comprendre que
spy satellites: satellites espions
liability: handicap, responsabilité
humbling: humiliant
platform: le quai
realizable, feasible, achievable: réalisable
the edge of possibility: la limite du possible
a feat: exploit, prouesse
an earthling: un terrien
a vantage point: point de vue
attained: atteint
dubbed: surnommé
the "overview effect": (littéralement la conséquence de la vue d'ensemble), qd les astronautes voyant la Terre de loin n'ont plus le sentiment d'appartenir à un pays mais à la Terre
to venture to: s'aventurer à, se risquer à
to ask for / to promise the moon: demander / promettre la lune
to shoot for the moon: viser très haut
to be over the moon: être aux anges, se croire au paradis
to bay at the moon: hurler à la lune
once in a blue moon: tous les 36 du mois
