China blast off to the dark side of the moon with a pretty complicated mission and they hope to have astronauts on the moon in 2030, NASA better get their finger out other wise the Chinese will be claiming large bit of the moon as theirs, like island in the south china sea.
Space Race is on
RE: Space Race is on
<nods> NASA have probably lost the race already.
RE: Space Race is on
Aye it's not going well for Nasa with the starliner being delayed again and the Artemis programme being put back and then they have to content with who is in the white house.
RE: Space Race is on
And Starliner fails to get off the pad.
RE: Space Race is on
Again! And it looks like China's latest lander has made it down inside that huge farside crater.
RE: Space Race is on
Japan's Venus probe has finally gone quiet this week.
It was really an amazing achievement. When it first arrived near Venus in 2010 there was an issue with its main engine and it failed to go into orbit around Venus. Instead it ended up drifting around the Sun.
JAXA put it into hibernation and waited *FIVE YEARS* for it to get close to Venus again. They dumped the rest of the main engine fuel to lighten the load and then used the tiny attitude control thrusters to maneuver it just into Venus orbit where they got eight years of science out of it.
It was really an amazing achievement. When it first arrived near Venus in 2010 there was an issue with its main engine and it failed to go into orbit around Venus. Instead it ended up drifting around the Sun.
JAXA put it into hibernation and waited *FIVE YEARS* for it to get close to Venus again. They dumped the rest of the main engine fuel to lighten the load and then used the tiny attitude control thrusters to maneuver it just into Venus orbit where they got eight years of science out of it.
RE: Space Race is on
Yes I seen that the Chinese had got down just after I posted about Starliner also seen that Nasa has delayed the landing until 2026 now.
I seen that their was plan to put some sort of balloon into the atmosphere of Venus and have it fly around the planets for a few days, although I don't think they ever got it off the drawing board.
I seen that their was plan to put some sort of balloon into the atmosphere of Venus and have it fly around the planets for a few days, although I don't think they ever got it off the drawing board.
RE: Space Race is on
Starliner finally got the ground and I see the Chinese moon lander is on it way back after planting a flag and writing China in the moon dust, no doubt as to the bases of a future claim to the dark side of the moon.
RE: Space Race is on
Posted by: @pinback
a future claim to the dark side of the moon.
Isn't the south pole region the place where water-ice can be found?
a future claim to the dark side of the moon.
Isn't the south pole region the place where water-ice can be found?
RE: Space Race is on
Posted by: @cody
Isn't the south pole region the place where water-ice can be found?
I believe so or at least they where they think it is.
Been a busy week as space X has a successful launch and touch down.
Isn't the south pole region the place where water-ice can be found?
I believe so or at least they where they think it is.
Been a busy week as space X has a successful launch and touch down.
Re: Space Race is on
What do you guys think of the change Elon made for SpaceX, changing from Mars to the Moon?
Re: Space Race is on
I think their SpaceX Starship programme must be under a bit of pressure to be ready for the Moon missions they committed to a few yeas ago (not just a propellant transfer in 2025 but originally supposed to have landed on the Moon by now!)BFett wrote: Tue Mar 03, 2026 8:04 am What do you guys think of the change Elon made for SpaceX, changing from Mars to the Moon?
I am broadly positive about it but they had a really rough 2025 that probably put them a year or two behind where they wanted to be! Blue Origin is also beginning to breathe down their neck which is interesting as SpaceX had the field to itself for a decade plus ...
Combined all that with the fact that the surrounding industries (NASA/Congress/China) are all about the Moon at the moment there is a lot of gravity to focus on that instead of Mars.
What do you think?