http://www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/ptech/05/20/e3.nintendo.price.ap/index.html
According to the link China wants to go to the moon by the end of the decade and start building a base there. Is the US now friendly enough with China to let that go unchecked?
Since that link took me to an article on Nintendo price cuts I’m not sure how it would affect a new space race.
Hmm…
Unless it’s all part of a master plan to distract us with consoles…
I am not fully sure the US has to ‘check’ what China does on the moon. I do not think we have any juristiction up there…Do we? This is going to bring some heated debate from capitol hill though. I mean whoever gets to the moon first, with the specific goal to build something there, will have full autonomy as to where to build. They will have the pick of the land so to say. Yeah I bet it is a fair guess the US is not going to like that too much. Fairest guess…I’d say we will end up collaborating with them and start the first colonies kick’in up there. I mean down here everything is in termoil.
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Let them go to the moon if they want too. We will sit right here on the couch and watch. There is nothing scientifically useful about going to the moon any more times. That is why the U.S. hasn’t been back since the 1970’s.
They want to go to prove that they can do it, just like the U.S. did over 30 years ago. That moon base thing is just all talk. NASA talked about the same thing after the first moon landing took place but they never went anywhere because people realized just how expensive and useless a moon base would be.
China will figure that out too, but if they don’t, I can’t think of any reason that we should care.
Well, since we’ve run out of practical ideas for the moon, let’s just blow it up. I mean, it’ll be cool as hell. 
Wouldn’t it be easier for China’s government to blow money on a moon base since they don’t have to answer to a free press and a voting public?
Building something on the moon will show us Americans how a real sophisticated country can waste a few trillion dollars. The idea is preposterously expensive.
[Obligatory Simpson’s Reference]
The moon belongs to America, and she eagerly awaits the arrival of our Astro-men. Will you be among them?
[/OSR]
Seriously, wasn’t there a U.N. resolution or something that said the moon was under international jurisdiction and therefore belonged to no one? Kind of like Antarctica…
Hi All!
Despite being freindly with china,I think a new space race to the moon would be good,both for the people,and nasa.There has been alot of hoopla about going to mars,but I think we are still just in the “send more probes” stage.
If we do again make it to the moon,I would like to see them
build a permanent station there,but hopes there will be no
“space:1999” happenings…
Rich in Seattle.
That is exactly what this guy plans to do:
I’m with rdky2000 – if China succeeds and goads the US into further space exploration, that can only be a good thing. I have no desire for humanity to be sitting on its rear watching reruns of The Simpsons while a big asteroid may come crashing down on our heads…
I dunno man, that sounds like a pretty good way to go out to me.
It seems to me that we just started doing science on the moon when the flights were cancelled. Apollo 11 was just to show we could do it. Apollo 12 was to see if they could land near the Surveyor 3 landing site (it did) and to deploy an experiments package called ALSEP. Apollo 14 used a cart to help transport geological samples. Apollo 15 tested the Lunar Rover and improved EVA suits. Apollo 16 was the first study of the highlands area. Harrison Schmitt was the first scientist astronaut to land on the moon.
Schmitt was the last scientist on the moon as well. I think there is a lot to study up there about the Moon’s geology and history. It might make a good observation post too, to look for asteroids that may cross Earth’s orbit. If so, then not only will it add to out knowledge of out solar system, but may also help to save our species.
Sounds worthwhile to me.
It could force us back to the moon or even one further (mars) since the moon is been there done that. As for who’s juristiction it’s in - very simple the one who can defend it against attack. I would think a well developed base could easily defend against others landing but not that well against missle attack.
I’m still pissed at clinton for giving china orbiting technology.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t it be easier to study space from the moon because you don’t have to deal with Earth’s atmosphere?
And wouldn’t a moon base be a good jumping off point for astronauts on their way to other places (like Mars)?
Sue beat me to the punch, but I agree with her. Luna is far from useless. It’s an excellent jumping-off point and waystation for further exploration and colonization of our system, as well as good practice in building permanent ground-based settlements on other planets. Add to that the lack of light pollution and pesky atmosphere to interfere with cosmic observations.
k2dave, according to international treaty, space is nobody’s jurisdiction, and is open to any who can reach it. While your statement may make some practical sense, anybody who tried to put that philosophy into play would be inviting a major war on Earth.
Sue: You’re half right.
It IS easier to look at and otherwise study space from outside the atmosphere. But this can be done without having to go all the way to the moon. Earth orbit is closer and has the additional advantage of zero gravity (as oppposed to the moon’s one-sixth).
I don’t see any military or scientific “advantage” to being on the moon that would force a response from anyone.
If they want to go and can get there, then I say good for them and I hope they have a good flight.
Addenda: The advantage (military, comercial, or scientific) isn’t in getting to the moon a handful of times (with great effort and expense), but in being able to get a useful payload into earth orbit at will.
The known benefits of establishing a moon base may or may not be worth it. Whenever you have a technological undertaking of that magnitude, though, there are always spinoffs. If I recall correctly, the Apollo program paid for itself in the medical advances alone. Who knows what we’d learn from a lunar base?
In addition, of course, you’ve got the selenology, the astronomy, the mining opportunities, the long-range health research…