French media: China's lunar race is against time, not the U.S., with clear goals set for 2030

French media: Space race: China's rival is time, not the United States

The French newspaper Le Figaro led with news on the Artemis 2 mission launching overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, which will send three Americans and one Canadian on a lunar flyby and carry out a high-risk re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Le Figaro notes that for NASA, this is a "short trip" around the Moon, but the path ahead remains uncertain. One goal is to prove that the United States can still send astronauts to the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. NASA must regain the "muscle memory" that enabled success during the Apollo missions—something still far off today.

In an inside-page feature accompanying the report, Le Figaro focuses on the Sino-American space race. It states that, thanks to a lunar program initiated over twenty years ago, China—the "turtle"—has gained a favorable position over the United States—the "hare." Le Figaro believes the fable of the tortoise and the hare perfectly encapsulates the new lunar race between China and the U.S. China, starting later but advancing steadily at its own pace, aims to land Chinese astronauts on the Moon before 2030. China clearly understands that the U.S. landed on the Moon in 1969, so they cannot truly claim to be "first." Instead, China is racing against time, following a political timetable: achieving a crewed lunar landing by October 1, 2029—the 80th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. China proceeds according to its own logic and schedule. When it launched its human spaceflight program in 1992, China set a goal of having a space station 30 years later. By 2022, China completed construction of its Tiangong space station.

Le Figaro cites expert opinions stating that the Chinese have increasingly embraced the narrative of competing with the U.S. and are confident about winning. In contrast, confidence in the U.S. is gradually waning. Last week, NASA’s new administrator Jared Isaacman said the outcome might be decided within months—due partly to the many challenges facing the U.S., and partly due to China’s steady progress as planned. According to China’s roadmap, in 2028, China will launch an uncrewed spacecraft to perform a lunar flyby, equivalent to NASA’s Artemis I mission in 2022. The key focus will be testing the heat shield performance during hypersonic atmospheric re-entry. If all goes well, China will conduct its first crewed lunar flyby in 2028—equivalent to the Artemis 2 mission. China has confirmed this milestone four times, which, for many American experts monitoring space exploration, signals strong confidence in the plan.

Some experts also note that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made European participation in the project unthinkable. This week, the U.S. reiterated its long-term intention to maintain a presence on the Moon, suggesting this new lunar race is more like a marathon than a sprint.

Source: rfi

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1861188475341002/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.