NASA set out to send a woman to the moon before China does. It is getting more and more

While the possibilities for NASA to step on the moon again in 2027 fades, China advances with a firm and methodical step without changing its goal: sending astronauts to the lunar surface in 2030. Any of the two countries could end putting the first woman on the moonthe symbolic objective that the United States had marked with Artemis III.

Another blow to Artemis. NASA depends on Spacex to achieve the first moaning manned since 1972. In the Artemis III mission, scheduled for mid -2027, two astronauts descend to the lunar surface in a starship ship adapted to land and take off on the moon. But Spacex has delay. He could not Demonstrate fuel transfer in orbit With a cistern starship, much less a loan without crew.

With the catastrophic explosion of the starship 36 During a motor test, the program trial zone will have to be repaired. It is the fourth consecutive failure for the Spacex ship-cohete, which will undoubtedly add new delays to its commitments to NASA.

Move the goal. The rumors of which Artemis III It could be reconfigured as a mission without alunsing They return to the fore. I would leave NASA with less maneuvering margin to arrive before China does it for the first time.

Maybe that’s why the narrative has changed under the new administration: now the political objective is to plant a flag on Mars before China does. With the excuse of eliminating the diversity programs of federal agencies, the references to send to the first woman and the first man of color to the moon They have been erased of the NASA website.

China follows its roll. For its part, the Crewing Space Agency of China (CMSA) has completed this week a crucial test of the ship that will take its astronauts to the moon. The early morning of June 17, in the Gobi desert, the Mengzhou ship’s escape system furiously turned on its solid fuel engines.

The ship without crew was propelled at full speed from the platform, as it would do if there was an emergency with the rocket. At 20 seconds, He separated from the escape system and opened his parachute To perch again on land. It was a perfect abortion test. China did not perform a since 1998, with its current Shenzhou ship, which routinely carries astronauts to the Chinese space station.

The second country on the moon. China wants to become the second country to step on the moon, before one of NASA’s partners in the Artemis missions, such as Jaxa or ESA. The calendar is clear And it has remained so far: in 2027, China will first launch the new heavy rocket CZ-10. In 2028, he will make a manned mission around the Moon (in this case, as a third country to do so, because Canada has a seat on the Artemis II mission).

The first moonwill is scheduled by the end of 2030. The Mengzhou ship It will take three Chinese astronauts to the lunar orbitwhile the Lanyue ship, designed to be coupled with Mengzhou in orbit, will descend to the surface in the role of Alunizer. The firm steps of CMSA towards this objective reinforce the image of a robust program, well financed and with an immovable political objective, which increasingly contrasts with NASA Artemis.

Image | CMSA, Xinhua

In Xataka | After three failures, Spacex needed the new Starship to work out well. I was waiting for the worst explosion of all