China, European Space Agency Plan to Collaborate on "Moon Village"
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) have begun discussions regarding a potential collaboration on a lunar human outpost and related technologies. CNSA led a series of talks with ESA, and secretary general for China's space agency, Tian Yulong, discussed the potential for a lunar base on Chinese state media, according to theIndependent. Pal Hvistendahl, a spokesman for ESA, confirmed the discussion.
"The Chinese have a very ambitious moon program already in place," Hvistendahl said. "Space has changed since the space race of the '60s. We recognize that to explore space for peaceful purposes, we do international cooperation."
Since Yang Liwei's manned mission in 2003, China's space program has grown rapidly. CNSA began working with ESA less than a year later when the two launched the Double Star satellite, "dedicated to investigating global physical processes in Earth's magnetic environment and its response to solar disturbances."
A potential "Moon Village," as ESA Director General Jan Woerner likes to call it, could have any number of uses, from serving as a jumping-off point for a manned mission to Mars, to sample collection, to space tourism. ESA has already begun to develop 3D printing methods that could use lunar soil to manufacture various items, potentially reducing the cost of launching materials to space.
One group unlikely to collaborate on the project is the United States. All researchers from NASA are banned from working with any Chinese state employees on issues related to space, thanks to an act of Congress in 2011. No one from NASA may " develop, design, plan, promulgate, implement, or execute a bilateral policy, program, order, or contract of any kind to participate, collaborate, or coordinate bilaterally in any way with China."
The legislation is also the reason Chinese astronauts do not visit the International Space Station, and in 2013 it became illegal for any Chinese national to step foot into a NASA building without a special waiver. However, with CSNA growing rapidly in its space exploration capabilities, it might be time for the U.S. to rethink its policy.
Source: The Independent
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