HELSINKI – China and the United States have known overlapping landing sites at the Moon’s south pole as both countries step up their lunar exploration ambitions.
The partially crossover plans for moon landings highlight new interest in specific lunar resources and raise questions about how competing countries implement and coordinate their respective lunar exploration plans.
NASA announced earlier this month the number of thirteen potential locations for the Manned Artemis 3 mission, which is scheduled to launch by the end of 2025.
NASA’s candidate landing sites, between 15 and 15 kilometers, are located within six degrees of latitude of the South Pole.
Meanwhile, a Chinese newspaper article about possible landing sites at the lunar south pole, written by Chang’e-4 lunar project commander Zhang He and others, identifies 10 suitable locations near the lunar south pole. The sites are believed to be connected to the country. Chang’e-7 Project, recently scheduled for 2024.
Chang’e-7 will be unmanned and will consist of an orbiter, a repeater satellite, a lander, a rover and a “flying mini-detector”, the latter to detect the presence of water.
Artemis 3 and Chang’e-7 identify sites near Shackleton, Haworth and Nobile craters as possible landing zones.
The overlap is due in part to the search for high-altitude sites and smart situations to carry out project activities while being close enough to permanently shaded craters that are meant to trap volatiles like water ice.
It’s unclear how the two countries will coordinate their respective lunar plans, as NASA will launch Artemis 1 and China will have its own plans for a lunar study station abroad.
NASA is severely limited in its ability to interact with Chinese entities through the so-called Wolf Amendment inserted into an allocation bill in 2011.
In 2015, the Obama administration hosted the U. S. -China Space Civil Dialogue, organized by the State Department, to discuss issues in the area. Although meetings have continued in the Trump administration, this path does not seem to be conducive to talking about current issues.
A State Department spokesman said in the background that “the last civil space dialogue between the United States and China was held in 2017. Lately there are no plans for a discussion in the civil area. If a discussion is planned in the civilian area, the United States will announce it at the appropriate time. “time.
“We have and will continue to keep open the lines of communication with Beijing, adding issues of spaceflight protection. “
The International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG), however, may allow for multilateral discussions and coordination of plans.
Neither NASA nor the Zhang He article had responded to a request for comment on the overlapping landing sites at press time.
Christopher Newman, a professor of law and politics at Northumbria University in the UK, told SpaceNews that “this is a genuine opportunity for collaboration and cooperation between the two giant powers, and it would be an opportunity to show all the rhetoric about exploration being more than enough. “of a geopolitical nature.
“However, in reality, it is not difficult to perceive why they need the same places. It is a major lunar asset for in situ resource use. This may be the first prospective point of conflict over resources beyond Earth. “Newman said.
“Both sides are signatories to the Outer Space Treaty and in theory accept the use of celestial bodies for non-violent purposes, but it will be attractive to see what happens. It will depend a lot on who arrives first. detail of unwanted festival that threatens security in the area and on Earth.
Landing plans from both sides will likely be reviewed as the respective missions approach. NASA officials say they aim to narrow down the list about 18 months before Artemis 3 to have site-specific procedures in place.
It’s unclear how China, which used knowledge of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) for its selection, will continue to trim its landing sites.
The landing zone of the 2020 Chang’e-5 lunar pattern dates from the project known years in advance, in part due to a launch failure in 2017 that delayed that project.
In the case of chang’e-4 landing on the far side of the moon in early 2019, several study papers were published that identified possible sites in the South Pole-Aitken basin, a large effect on the crater of great clinical interest. of the project around mid-2019-2018, however, the variety of von Kármán crater as the main landing site was only revealed when the launch approached in December.
The two countries have recently exchanged complaints about their respective activities in the area. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson reportedly told German publication Bild that China would occupy the Moon, and then criticized China for the out-of-control re-entry of a first level of Long March 5B.
“Space observers have also pointed out that while NASA strives to revive its Apollo glories, China is executing cutting-edge plans to carry out its own manned moon landing missions,” reads an article in the Beijing Global Times tabloid on Aug. 21, with quotes. indicating confidence that “NASA may simply be more hostile to China in the space picture given the enormous strain it faces to maintain its global leadership in lunar exploration. “
The same outlet criticized Nelson for his comments following the release of Artemis 1 on Monday.