From Soviet aid to degree program with the US to exploit the mineral wealth of asteroids
The arrival of a Chinese spacecraft on the far side of the Moon has brought world public opinion to take a closer look at the Chinese space program, which is more developed than many had imagined. Aided by the Soviets in the early days, the Chinese have taken the lead in some programs (probably more apparent than real, given certain setbacks), such as the development of a permanent space station of their own, and are competing with the United States in the desire to exploit the mineral wealth of asteroids.
▲ Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center [CNSA].
article / Sebastián Bruzzone [English version].
The origin of the Chinese space program1 dates back to the beginning of the Cold War, at the height of the tension between the United States and the Soviet Union for the control of international politics. Since 1955, Chairman Mao Zedong had been seeking the respect of the world powers and decided to follow in the footsteps of the neighboring country, the USSR. In March of the following year, the Fifth Academy of the Ministry of National Defense began the development of a first ballistic missile (Chinese Twelve-Year Aerospace Plan). Following the launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union in 1957, Mao turned to the development of a Chinese artificial satellite that would be active in space two years later (project 581), in an effort materially and financially supported by the Soviet Union. However, in the early 1960s, the USSR withdrew its entire economic and technological attendance following Beijing's accusation that the first secretary of the CPSU's Central committee Secretary Nikita Khrushchev was a revisionist and wanted to restore capitalism.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is the manager of space programs. The first Chinese manned space flight took place in 2003, with Yang Liwei aboard the Shenzhou 5 spacecraft, which docked with the Tiangong-1 space station. China thus became the third nation to send men out of the Earth. The main goal of the Shenzhou missions is the establishment of a permanent space station. To date, nine Chinese men and seven women have gone into space.
Since 2007, China has shown a special interest in Luna. China's lunar exploration program consists of four phases. In the first (Chang'e 1 and 2), carried out with CZ-3A, two unmanned lunar orbital probes were launched. In the second (Chang'e 3 and 4), in 2013, with CZ-5/E, the first lunar landing of two rovers took place. The third (Chang'e 5 and 6) was executed in 2017 with CZ-5/E, consisting of lunar landing and sample return. The fourth, with CZ-7, is planned for 2024; it will consist of a manned mission statement and the implantation of permanentinstructions on the lunar surface.
The mission statement Chang'e 4 was launched on December 8, 2018, and landed on the lunar surface on January 3, 2019, in the Von Kárman crater (186 kilometers in diameter), in the southern hemisphere of the satellite's hidden side. Images transmitted by the Yutu-2 rover showed that this never-before-explored lunar surface is densely perforated by impact craters and that its crust is thicker than the visible side. As part of a biological essay , a cotton seed could have been sprouted, but high radiation levels, lower-than-Earth gravity, and abrupt temperature changes caused the cotton plant to succumb a few days later. Astronomers believe that the hidden side is shielded from interference from Earth, so it would be possible to better study the evolution of stars and galaxies from there.
In mid-2017, Chinese intentions to search for Earth-scarce minerals on the surface of asteroids, and ideally inside them, were made public. Within China's space program, this particular topic occupies an important place. From agreement with Ye Peijan, top manager of the lunar exploration program, his country is studying in recent years the possibility of running a mission statement that captures an asteroid to place it in the orbit of the Moon, and thus be able to exploit it for minerals, or even use it as a permanent space station, according to South China Morning Post. The same manager has pointed out that in the Solar System and near our planet there are asteroids and stars with a large amount of precious metals and other materials. This plan will be implemented starting in 2020. For this purpose, the CNSA will use Tianzhou cargo ships, as opposed to the manned Shenzhou exploration ships whose main goal is the establishment of a permanent space station, or the Chang'e lunar missions.
The cost of this futuristic plan would be extremely high, as it would involve the organization of complex and high-risk missions, but interest will not wane, as it could be very profitable in the long term and would yield billion-dollar benefits. According to Noah Poponak, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, a single asteroid could have more than $50 billion in platinum, as well as other precious metals and water.
Capturing an asteroid requires, first, that a spacecraft land on its surface, to anchor itself. The spacecraft must have extremely powerful engines so that, when anchored, it will be able to drag the entire asteroid into the Moon's orbit. Such thrusters, powerful enough to move a rock weighing thousands of tons, do not yet exist. Ye Peijan has warned that this technology needed for such a space experience could take 40 years or so to develop. For the time being, in March 2017 China communicated in the official press that it intended to send probes into the cosmos to study trajectories and characteristics of some asteroids. With this, it enters in direct skill with NASA, which is also developing a program aimed at an asteroid.
Tiangong-1 was the first space laboratory that China put into orbit, in 2011, with a length of 10.5 meters, a diameter of 3.4 meters and a weight of 8.5 tons. Its goal was to conduct experiments within the Chinese space program and to launch the permanent station that CNSA seeks to have in orbit by 2023. Against all odds, in 2016 the digital control of the spacecraft was lost and it ended up destroyed in pieces over the Pacific Ocean, northwest of New Zealand. In the same year of 2016, a second module, Tiangong-2, was launched with the same objectives. On the other hand, China is making progress on the plan to establish a permanent space station. According to Yang Liwei, the central capsule will be launched in 2020 and the two experimental modules in the following two years, with manned missions and cargo spacecraft.
