Project Sword
Wen Junjian. The United States suffered a setback in the last launch of the "Space Plane", and as a result, China was accidentally ahead. Unexpectedly, the United States has encountered a new bad thing recently, according to the global networkThe lunar lander launched by a private company in the United States is also unfavorable, and the plan to "return to the moon" is likely to be cold again.
The Vulcan Centaur rocket lifted off from the Space Force launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida).
Foreign media reports show thatOn January 8, the American company Astrobotic sent a lander nicknamed the "Peregrine Falcon" with the goal of eventually sending it to the moon. If it succeeds, it will be the first time since the end of the "Apollo program" in 1972 that the United States has "returned to the moon" after half a century. Although it is nominally a private project, if successful, Astrobotic may become the partner of the US (Pentagon) and NASA like Musk's SpaceX. The Peregrine Falcon project itself is also part of NASA's moon landing program, which NASA intends to outsource to companies and take the corresponding risks.
Space Perspectives released by Astrobotic**).
However, it was clear that the Astrobotic lander was not in good spirits, and a few hours after launch, there was a problem with the equipment, and a serious fuel leak was suspected, which meant that the lander's lunar landing plan could be abandoned. Foreign media claimed that during the launch of the lander, there was a situation where the solar panels could not accurately point to the sun, which may be the result of the fuel leak affecting the propulsion system. While the battery problem is still possible, the propulsion system is difficult to deal with, making a moon landing on February 23 very unlikely.
astrobotic's lunar lander).
In addition to the Peregrine Falcon, a number of NASA's other spacecraft programs have also had problems, which have led to the postponement of several of its lunar landing projects, including the planned manned lunar landing until 2025. As a result, the Artemis program, which is the U.S. moon landing program relaunched more than 50 years after the Apollo program.
Apollo 16 mission in 1972).
The current situation is that because of the technical problems with the batteries provided by Loma for the "Orion spacecraft", the "Artemis 2" program has been affected, NASA plans to let SpaceX "Starship" support the "Artemis 3" launch mission by the end of 2025, but the project is now also postponed, mainly because SpaceX needs more time, after all, Musk's "Starship" has exploded twice. NASA believes that SpaceX needs to be prepared, and that a true U.S. astronaut moon landing program may need to be realized on Artemis 4.
Orion spacecraft "Return to Earth)
NASA attaches great importance to the above projects, and NASA Director Nelson even threatened that "China must not be allowed to take the lead on the moon." In fact, China has no intention of comparing with the United States, but if the United States is too slow, it is likely that the opportunity will be given to China - China has announced a manned lunar landing program, which is expected to be realized by 2030.
Nielsen held up the ** budget for China's landing on Mars in the U.S. Congress).
China's lunar landing program is mainly to complete the docking of the spacecraft and the lander in the circumlunar orbit through two launches, and then realize the lander landing and the astronauts landing on the moon. This is still very different from the American project, which can be said to go their own way. Moreover, China will also build a lunar scientific research station at the same time, and it is expected that the construction of the basic configuration will be completed in 2028.
China's Lunar Exploration Program).
Unlike the impatient United States, China is steadily advancing its moon landing program according to its own plan, and Nielsen's roar is only interfering with the United States itself. Moreover, if the United States is not angry, if China accidentally leads again, then the United States should not be unhappy.