from the To-the-moon,-Alice...-To-the-Moon! dept.
China will begin recruiting civilians for crewed space missions, rather than limiting the space program to military personnel:
China will begin recruiting civilian astronauts for its military-backed space program and plans to increase the number of crewed missions to around two a year, a top official with the country's space program said.
China's third batch of astronaut trainees will include recruits from industry, research institutions and universities who will help build and crew China's independent space station, Yang Liwei, deputy director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, told reporters on the sidelines of the annual session of China's ceremonial parliament.
Russia and China have agreed to collaborate on future missions:
Russia and China have agreed to create a joint data center for lunar and deep space projects, Russian space agency Roscosmos has announced. The projects will involve Russian and Chinese scientific and industrial bodies and companies, Roscosmos said in a statement on Saturday.
Roscosmos and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) also signed an agreement of intent on cooperation over moon and deep space research, at the International Space Exploration Forum (ISEF) in Tokyo. The countries will also look into the possibilities of providing assistance for each other's lunar programs. That would include the launch of the Russian Luna-26 orbiter in 2022, and the Chinese planned landing on the south pole of the moon scheduled for 2023.
Both countries attended the International Space Exploration Forum in Tokyo (ISEF2), where international agreements were signed. The next forum will be held in Italy in 2021.
Related Stories
Could corporations control territory in space? Under new US rules, it might be possible:
First, the Artemis Accords go beyond simply rejecting the unpopular 1979 Moon Agreement, which declared lunar resources to be the "common heritage of mankind" and committed parties to establish an international regime to oversee space mining. Only 18 countries have signed the treaty.
In its place, the accords envisage a US-centric framework of bilateral agreements in which "partner nations" agree to follow US-drafted rules.
Second, the accords introduce the concept of "safety zones" around lunar operations.
Although territorial claims in space are prohibited under international law, these safety zones would seek to protect commercial and scientific sites from inadvertent collisions and other forms of "harmful interference". What kinds of conduct could count as harmful interference remains to be determined.
Previously:
(2020-06-02) Third European Service Module for Artemis Mission to Land Astronauts on the Moon
(2020-05-16) NASA Wants Partner Nations to Agree to "Artemis Accords" for Lunar Exploration
(2020-03-12) CoronaVirus (SARS-CoV-2) Roundup 2020-03-12
(2018-07-22) Who Owns The Moon? A Space Lawyer Answers
(2018-03-07) China to Recruit Civilian Astronauts, Partner With Russia on Upcoming Missions
(2018-01-09) Russia Assembles Engineering Group for Lunar Activities and the Deep Space Gateway
(2017-10-18) Bigelow and ULA to Put Inflatable Module in Orbit Around the Moon by 2022
(2015-11-26) Who Owns Space? USA's Asteroid-Mining Act is Dangerous and Potentially Illegal
Robert Heinlein explored the notion in a novel. Does the future of space exploration lie with governments or corporations?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 08 2018, @10:20PM (3 children)
Bad news, Firefly fans. You pasty white Anglos will be left behind on the Has-Been-Earth. Better take off your brown shirts and put on your brown pants, for the future of the Verse is yellow.
(Score: 2) by jelizondo on Friday March 09 2018, @12:21AM (2 children)
Rather than yellow, it looks like a blast from the past with technology. Consider that we have a new Czar, sorry, democratically-elected president of Russia and the new Chinese Emperor, sorry, president for life and one gets the distinct impression of totalitarian states come to dominate the world.
So in order to retaliate and not be left behind, we must make Trump president for life too! (His wettest dream :-> )
(Score: 2) by arslan on Friday March 09 2018, @12:27AM
Don't forget you also have Kaiserin Merkel.. into her fourth term already...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 09 2018, @01:03AM
The liberals scoff at this. I think the more religious conservatives might take it seriously:
Repeal the 22nd, which has only been in place for less time than Trump has been alive, and allow presidents to last as long as the people intended. I mean it took 150 years to get ratified in the first place, so people must not have felt that strongly about it. King Trump for glorious leader!
Why am I pushing this? To help clarify the divide in mindsets among different groups of Americans so they can finally either fight for independence once more, or choose to emigrate from this 'great and glorious' country to places better matching acceptance of their race, political views, or pursuit of liberty, happiness, and perhaps a life, all of which have been been slowly dwindling in the increasingly bubbling pot we've all been thrown into for the past 1-3 generations. A pot which is soon coming to a roiling boil the likes of which even the Civil War will not have depicted. I know within my own family there will be people who will not shed a tear when they murder a cousin or sibling on account of political stances.