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China’s Moon atlas is the most detailed ever made

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Re: China’s Moon atlas is the most detailed ever made

#41
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine how different, and worse, the world would be had explorers not ventured across the sea just to see what was on the other side. We should explore for exploration's sake.

>had explorers not ventured across the sea just to see what was on the other side I mean, they mostly did it to establish trade routes and exploit previously untapped natural resources, not out of a mere spirit of exploration. And even if the explorers themselves did it out of a spirit of exploration, the ones funding their expeditions generally had other motives.

Then let's explore for the riches that could be (are) there? If that's the motivation some people need, so be it. We're undoubtably in a better place as a society now than we were in the 1200s so it stands to reason that exploring the solar system and beyond would stand to put us in a better position come 3200 or 4200 than if we simply languish here.

Re: China’s Moon atlas is the most detailed ever made

#42

Being in the U.S., I am isolated from China and the zeitgeist of its people - but I'm getting little hints that the Moon may very well be in the forefront. With this "mood", Chinese astronauts on the Moon seems inevitable now. And I don't say that with dread, it's just more of an awakening I am having to a future that I had not thought much about until very recently. I think in fact I look forward to it because I sup…

This isn't authoritative in the slightest, but having lived in China I got a general feeling that Chinese see themselves as a third world country that's kinda backwards and trying it's best to catch up. This was my sense talking to normal people that sell noodles and whatnot. There is a kinda separate ultra nationalist crowd that probably see things different, but they don't really represent the majority. I think lan…

When I visited China late last year, I spoke to the people there on what they thought about the US and the current trade war.

Almost everyone I spoke to said that they think the US is a very advanced country and admire the US. They have no interest in changing or influencing the US to be more like themselves. They see this trade war as just "what politicians do". They seem to have an understanding of why China is doing what it needs to do and why the US is doing what it needs to do. It's nothing personal for them.

In contrast, most Americans I've interacted with see China as more of an enemy, a sort of hateful resentment towards China, and ideologically incompatible with any of their own beliefs. It is much more personal for Americans. Americans want China to be more like themselves. It shows on HN comments as well.

Re: China’s Moon atlas is the most detailed ever made

#43

Being in the U.S., I am isolated from China and the zeitgeist of its people - but I'm getting little hints that the Moon may very well be in the forefront. With this "mood", Chinese astronauts on the Moon seems inevitable now. And I don't say that with dread, it's just more of an awakening I am having to a future that I had not thought much about until very recently. I think in fact I look forward to it because I sup…

While it's inevitable that if China continues on its current trajectory, it'll eventually become the second nation to put people on the Moon on the back of its own tech, it still doesn't feel like their efforts are as heavily directed towards that goal yet. Even the US's poorly funded (besides SLS) and half-hearted (from Congress) Artemis program feels like an urgent rush to the Moon in comparison. I wonder if these…

Are you aware of this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Lunar_Research_S...

Re: China’s Moon atlas is the most detailed ever made

#44

First you make maps, then you profit. Normally by extracting some resources or energy from the area. China is following a classic path. The impetus for Artemis becomes more clear! Haha :)

Yeah, the plan is to snuff out the indigenous people there.

Hehehehe! :)

Re: China’s Moon atlas is the most detailed ever made

#45
post #15

First you make maps, then you profit. Normally by extracting some resources or energy from the area. China is following a classic path. The impetus for Artemis becomes more clear! Haha :)

Lunar resource extraction is unlikely to be viable for anything other than building on the moon - ever. The quantities of energy involved are simply too high.

I thought the whole thing was He3 makes it viable.

Re: China’s Moon atlas is the most detailed ever made

#46
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While it's inevitable that if China continues on its current trajectory, it'll eventually become the second nation to put people on the Moon on the back of its own tech, it still doesn't feel like their efforts are as heavily directed towards that goal yet. Even the US's poorly funded (besides SLS) and half-hearted (from Congress) Artemis program feels like an urgent rush to the Moon in comparison. I wonder if these…

Are you aware of this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Lunar_Research_S...

Yes I am aware of it, but Russia has been talking about doing big stuff for decades now with mainly a rapidly decaying space industry to show for it, and none of the other partners are exactly notable space industry participants either. So it just looks like a way to appear to be competing with Artemis without having to actually put in the same kind of effort.

I get the impression that it'll fall apart once Artemis starts doing crewed lunar landings and China will just have to do its own independent thing. Kind of like the initial claims about Russia participating in China's space station, where it turns out that Tiangong is in an orbit that Soyuz can't even reach from its current launch sites. Then Russia claimed to be building their own space station for post-ISS activities, only to later downgrade further into a station that is not always occupied.

Put differently, it seems even less serious than when any US official uses 'sustainable' and 'SLS' in the same sentence.

Re: China’s Moon atlas is the most detailed ever made

#47

Being in the U.S., I am isolated from China and the zeitgeist of its people - but I'm getting little hints that the Moon may very well be in the forefront. With this "mood", Chinese astronauts on the Moon seems inevitable now. And I don't say that with dread, it's just more of an awakening I am having to a future that I had not thought much about until very recently. I think in fact I look forward to it because I sup…

I can't wait for China to release photos of the location of the American landing on the moon.

Re: China’s Moon atlas is the most detailed ever made

#48
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lunar resource extraction is unlikely to be viable for anything other than building on the moon - ever. The quantities of energy involved are simply too high.

I highly doubt that’s true, sending it back to earth is fairly cheap. Getting stuff to the moon can be expensive, but there will def be certain resources worth sending back. For instance, 10Kg of gold is worth $750k. Probably could just send that back with a few astronauts. That’s not to include the possibility that there’s certain manufactured goods that could be cheaper or only possible to produce at lower gravity.

One does not simply obtain gold from the ground by picking it up as it lies around

Re: China’s Moon atlas is the most detailed ever made

#49

Being in the U.S., I am isolated from China and the zeitgeist of its people - but I'm getting little hints that the Moon may very well be in the forefront. With this "mood", Chinese astronauts on the Moon seems inevitable now. And I don't say that with dread, it's just more of an awakening I am having to a future that I had not thought much about until very recently. I think in fact I look forward to it because I sup…

I'd say that the world has always been shit, and exploring is something humans always have done.

Re: China’s Moon atlas is the most detailed ever made

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't authoritative in the slightest, but having lived in China I got a general feeling that Chinese see themselves as a third world country that's kinda backwards and trying it's best to catch up. This was my sense talking to normal people that sell noodles and whatnot. There is a kinda separate ultra nationalist crowd that probably see things different, but they don't really represent the majority. I think lan…

When I visited China late last year, I spoke to the people there on what they thought about the US and the current trade war. Almost everyone I spoke to said that they think the US is a very advanced country and admire the US. They have no interest in changing or influencing the US to be more like themselves. They see this trade war as just "what politicians do". They seem to have an understanding of why China is doi…

So this may be because Americans think of China as China's political system. When they think "Chinese" they think Xi Jingping.

How many Chinese people think of America and go "Joe Biden"? I'd bet more of them think "Brad Pitt" or something along those lines.

My point is, Americans may see Chinese people as their political system. While the Chinese see Americans as their culture: movies, tv, music etc.

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