Looking ahead

Although there has been no formal government decision on developing manned lunar missions, Chinese scientists and engineers are working on designs for a lunar base, which will include "new energy development," according to Zhang Yuhua, a manager of Chang'e-3, speaking at the Shanghai Science Communication Forum, as reported January 8 in People's Daily.

Zhang described the activity of a lunar base as setting up agricultural and industrial production, producing medicines in the vacuum environment, and carrying out "energy reconnaissance." The most oft-cited lunar energy resource by Chinese scientists is the isotope helium-3, which is rare on Earth, but has remained largely undisturbed on the inert lunar surface, having been deposited there by the Sun. This allows a more advanced form of fusion energy, enabling many applications in energy, industry, and chemistry, and will provide power on both the Moon and the Earth.

Fusion on the Moon has been part of China's program since its inception. Ten years ago, speaking before the 12th conference of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the scientist known as the "father" of China's lunar missions, Ouyang Ziyuan, described his nation's three-step lunar robotic program, stating that it should scout and map mineralogical elements, including helium-3.

More recently, Ouyang explained that "there are altogether 15 tons of helium-3 on Earth, while on the Moon, the total amount can reach 1 million to 5 million tons. Helium-3 is considered as a long-term, stable, safe, clean, and cheap material for human beings to get nuclear energy through controllable nuclear fusion experiments. This means that the helium-3 reserves on the Moon can serve human society for at least 10,000 years." The goal, he has said, is to "bring enough fuel for all human beings across the world" from the Moon.

Chinese scientists are also conducting a series of experiments to grow a variety of basic crops under a simulated lunar environment. The Tiangong-1 laboratory, staffed by scientists from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, hosts experiments in growing food that replicate lunar conditions.

The team, which is headed by Professor Liu Hong, has done tests on more than 10 plant varieties, controlling the food, water, oxygen, and soil chemistry of the environment. They are also investigating plants with a strong resistance to space radiation. The technologies developed through this and similar programs will also be important for China's next step in manned space flight—its space station.

Then, JFK—now, China

It is difficult for some to understand why China, a still-developing nation, is deploying precious resources to explore the Moon. Comments made by Chinese President Xi Jinping on January 7, to the space scientists and engineers who participated in the research and development of the Chang'e-3 mission, should shed some light on the matter. As reported by Xinhua News Agency, Xi said that innovations in science and technology must be put in a "core position" in the country's overall development.

Innovation is "the soul of a people and the source for a country's prosperity," Xi said, going on to emphasize that the Chang'e-3 mission was 'China-made' in every sense of the phrase.

That was the outlook of the United States under President John F. Kennedy, an outlook now exemplified by the Chinese. This is the outlook that the United States, and all the trans-Atlantic region, must return to today, if they wish to remain competitive.

Marsha Freeman is the author of hundreds of articles on the U.S. space program and has been published in periodicals including Fusion Magazine, Executive Intelligence Review, 21st Century Science & Technology, Acta Astronautica and Space World