We do not know. We do know that China has ambitions. The farce that is the OST will certainly get tested in this next century.
If the Chinese withdrew from the OST with an eye to making a territorial claim, the US could do the same and assert a prior claim based on the Apollo landings. It would have been better, in any case, for the US to do what it did in the Antarctic in the 1930s when it sent Admiral Byrd there; make a claim and then set it in abeyance pending a final international settlement of claims, which is where it stands today. The US did that out of concern over Nazi expeditions at the time, which they feared were about to make claims. (Now, there’s the basis for a great Indiana Jones movie, with a Lovecraftian ending.)
At least chinese officials and scientists are not afraid of publicly expressing their interest in potentially exploiting the resources on the Moon. They have done so on several occasions.
Most western space powers keep talking about ( at least in official context ) vague science and exploration goals.
That’s because this country has been marxified. The stench of it even allowed someone like BHO to become CinC. Having competition forces reality upon us.
Let’s revisit this in a decade or something. Doubt the Chinese will be close to it by then contrary to the 2020 date claimed in the article. The article also repeats the bound to fail He-3 mining claim. AFAIK there is nothing special in terms of materials in the Moon compared with the Earth. What makes the Moon interesting is its location and size. The asteroids are much more interesting places to mine for all sorts of reasons.
Dr. Spudis had a persuasive post that suggest otherwise (yeah, I know he has an axe to grind, but it was still persuasive.)
OTOH, looking at averages may not be a good argument against the specific.
We do not know. We do know that China has ambitions. The farce that is the OST will certainly get tested in this next century.
If the Chinese withdrew from the OST with an eye to making a territorial claim, the US could do the same and assert a prior claim based on the Apollo landings. It would have been better, in any case, for the US to do what it did in the Antarctic in the 1930s when it sent Admiral Byrd there; make a claim and then set it in abeyance pending a final international settlement of claims, which is where it stands today. The US did that out of concern over Nazi expeditions at the time, which they feared were about to make claims. (Now, there’s the basis for a great Indiana Jones movie, with a Lovecraftian ending.)
At least chinese officials and scientists are not afraid of publicly expressing their interest in potentially exploiting the resources on the Moon. They have done so on several occasions.
Most western space powers keep talking about ( at least in official context ) vague science and exploration goals.
That’s because this country has been marxified. The stench of it even allowed someone like BHO to become CinC. Having competition forces reality upon us.
Let’s revisit this in a decade or something. Doubt the Chinese will be close to it by then contrary to the 2020 date claimed in the article. The article also repeats the bound to fail He-3 mining claim. AFAIK there is nothing special in terms of materials in the Moon compared with the Earth. What makes the Moon interesting is its location and size. The asteroids are much more interesting places to mine for all sorts of reasons.
Dr. Spudis had a persuasive post that suggest otherwise (yeah, I know he has an axe to grind, but it was still persuasive.)
OTOH, looking at averages may not be a good argument against the specific.