China's moon ambitions

China will launch its first lunar probe this year - and hopes to land a man on the Moon within 15 years.
Link

i think it is about time that more space exploration would take place, it has been over 30 years since the last man has gone beyond the Earth's orbit.

also i hope that China's space program expands and is somewhat better than the old Long Marches that, from what i saw, were not exactly the best in the world.

maybe 15 years in the future there will be another flag on the moon aside from the stars and stripes

I'm looking forward to seeing how China's lunar program goes. Starting with phase 1 being the Chang'e 1 probe, which according to this link, will be launched next month in April, but I don't know how accurate that info is. Phase 2 is going to consist of at least two lunar rovers. That was originally planned to happen in 2008 or 2009, but I think it may have been pushed back a bit further. Phase 3 is planned to be a sample return mission somewhere between 2012 and 2017. And finally phase 4 will be there manned missions. I believe they are aiming at 2020 for that. Which is around the same time NASA is shooting for (though perhaps a bit earlier).

It should be an exciting time having two Countries flying to the Moon.

I think 2020 is too early for the Chinese to be on the Moon, even if they've got working on it.
2030 is more like it.

I located this article on China's Lunar satellite ambitions here, it sounds really interesting, with 3d pics of the surface hopefully they will share the data and we can see the moon's surface with much more clarity.

China set to launch first lunar satellite

BEIJING, MARCH 17: China may launch its first lunar satellite in September this year as part of the country's ambitious three-phase moon mission, a top defence official has said.
"Preparatory work for the Chang'e I lunar orbiter is going according to schedule, and the orbiter may be launched in September this year," the Director of the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defence (COSTIND), Zhang Yunchuan was quoted as saying by "People's Daily", the ruling Communist Party's official mouthpiece.

Indian orbiter set for latest Apr 08 launch date:

www.bharat-rakshak.com...

These space programs take a lot of time to get going. They need a boost in funding for the sake of our future...

/7A

We're like a bunch of 2 year olds slapping eachother in the face trying to stake out a nice spot in the sandpit..no-one sees the acres of grass outside the pit.

And China makes a bid for Mars:

www.cnn.com...

today.reuters.com...

Daedalus3, I have to respond to your comments about the likelyhood of China making a manned moon landing by 2020. China is making slow but steady progress towards the same space milestones that the US and Soviet Union achieved back in the 1960's, and they're doing it at a pace which is impressive. I've jotted down the data for 5 of these milestones below, 4 of which the US has achieved and all which China has made official plans to achieve. While the dates for the Chinese flights are subject to change in three of these cases, it is worth noting that when China has set general dates in for spaceflights in the past, they've launched fairly close to the mark.

First Manned Space Flight:
United States: Mercury-Redstone 3, flown by Allan Shepard in May 1961
China: Shenzhou 5, flown by Yang Liwei in October 2003

First 2-Man Flight:
United States: Gemini 3 in March 1965, almost 4 years after first flight
China: Shenzhou 6 in October 2005, 2 years after first flight

First EVA:
United States: Gemini 4 in 1965, just over 4 years after first flight
China: planned for Shenzhou 7 in 2008, approximately 5 years after first flight

First Robotic (possibly automated - this is unclear from published plans) Docking:
United States: NEVER; none planned
China: planned for Shenzhou 8/9 in 2010, approximately 7 years after first flight

First Manned Docking:
United States: Gemini 8/ATV (Agena Target Vehicle) in March 1966, almost 5 years after first flight. If you want to count the Gemini 6/7 rendezvous in December of 1965, that would make this milestone ~5 1/2 years after first flight...
China: planned for Shenzhou 8/9/10 in 2010, approximately 7 years after first flight. This flight is planned to rendezvous with the Shenzhou 8 laboratory and the robotic/automatic Shenzhou 9.

Note: I didn't include the Soviet dates for these same milestones because, let's face it, it was the United States which made it to the moon, not the USSR. Also, I was lazy. The Soviet dates would be slightly ahead of the American ones, except for that Robotic/Automatic docking one, which the US has never successfully pulled off...

So China is behind the US pace in some areas and ahead of that same pace in others. They also have the benefit of, at least presumably, being able to use their Shenzhou capsule to return from a lunar mission, either as-is or with some slight modifications. No need to develop 3 different capsules on their way to the moon like the US (and, for that matter, the Soviets) did.

And that is the reason I think China will be able to make it to the moon by 2020. They've already got a vehicle which can safely get a crew there and back, in terms of life support and living space and so on. They need some sort of a lunar module, which will certainly be an engineering challenge, and some sort of Earth Departure Stage - again, an engineering challenge. And they probably need a heavy-lift LV, which I'm sure the Chinese military would like, anyway.

China isn't there yet, but they're on their way. And, what's more, they have the benefit of knowing that it can be done.

Sources:
Shenzhou
Mercury-Redstone 3
Gemini
China Might Be Planning Early Space Station Attempt

[edit on 1-4-2007 by PhloydPhan]

"NASA Administrator Michael Griffin recently told lawmakers that China's ambitious space program could feasibly beat the United States in the race back to the moon"

LINKER

You are forgetting that the motivation behind the US lunge for the moon is not present for the chinese program..

Anyways 12 years is a long time; I guess we'll get a better idea by 2010-15

You are also forgetting that the mainstay of the chinese manned program is off Soviet-era soyuz-esque vehicles; which is all well and god for orbital activities.
the intricacies of a orbital slingshot and orbital recapture is another story altogether.
Finally placing a thruster-assisted module on the lunar surface is also something to consider.

Lets take it step-by-step. Lets see how much success they achieve in the first lunar mission planned this year.
Then we can look at the soft-landing planned for 2010-12.
Finally the rover/sample retrieval mission in 2015-17 will give us a good yardstick by which the measure china's moon ambitions.

Already the Shenzhou 7 EVA mission planned for this year is postponed to 2008.

So timetables are always stretchable and never compressable.

Don't get me wrong; I'm sure china will eventually get to the moon if they've actually set out to do that. But IMHO it would be 2025 at least before they achieve that.