BEIJING - China is no trailblazer in moon
exploration, but its leadership used the country's
first lunar probe to score diplomatic points and
showcase willingness to be less secretive about
its much-criticized space program.
When
the rocket carrying China's first lunar orbiter
Chang'e-1 blasted off last Wednesday the event was
nothing short of a state spectacle; televised
live, advertised and sold ahead of time to
spectators by travel agencies, monitored and
dissected by a
dozen space experts on every
type of media.
The unprecedented publicity
is a far cry from the time when everything about
China's space program was shrouded in state
secrecy.
But China's declared objectives
this time are also different from the 1960s, which
was a period of political isolation when the
country developed its first space satellites in
secrecy.
"This is not about Cold War
politics or hegemony," says Zhu Yilin, a member of
the International Academy of Astronautics. "Space
exploration is a reflection of a country's
comprehensive national power and its international
prestige. The launch of Chang'e-1 is a milestone
for China ... it means that we have filled the
blanks in our deep space exploration program."
The timing of the launch has everything to
do with political symbolism. It came just a couple
of days after the close of the Chinese Communist
Party's 17th National Congress, which enshrined
the legacy of "scientific development", promoted
by president and party chief Hu Jintao.
By
bowing to a long-standing tradition of carrying
out key scientific missions to celebrate the
conclusion of major political events, China had to
step back and let Japan take the lead in the
region's undeclared space race.
Last
month, Japan became the first Asian country to
blast its way to the moon, launching the three-ton
probe Kaguya, named after a moon princess from a
fairytale.
Chinese netizens have deplored
the delay of Chinese launch, describing it as a
falling behind in a regional competition that is
colored in nationalistic overtones. The choice of
name for the Chinese lunar probe - Chang'e - after
a moon goddess, has given rise to numerous
fictitious scenarios on the Internet about
potential encounters between the two moon probes.
"Kaguya stole a march on Chang'e in
shooting off first but we shall see who reaches
there first," said one post on an Internet
bulletin board.
Chinese space officials
though, have been careful to avoid any suggestion
of space rivalry. "Japan began its lunar
exploration research much earlier than we did, so
we have always stressed that with the launch of
Chang'e, we don't want to be talking about who is
first," Zhang Jianqi, head of the Jiuquan
Satellite Launch Center, told the state media.
The scientific objectives of both missions
are quite similar and the time-frames of both
programs are almost identical. Both probes would
explore the moon for a year, mapping it and
transmitting geo-chemical data back to Earth. Both
China and Japan plan to land manned spacecrafts on
the moon by 2025.
Japan and China are just
a step ahead of India, which plans to launch its
own lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1 next year, when the
United States will also send off its Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter. The new outburst in lunar
exploration comes after a hiatus of more than 30
years since the Apollo program of the United
States in the 1970s.
Refuting suggestions
that China is merely replicating the feats of
other space-faring nations before, Chinese experts
say the most important driver behind the lunar
probe is the moon's wealth of natural resources,
particularly its rich supplies of helium-3, a
source of fusion energy rarely found on Earth.
"It is true that China is part of the
second big wave to explore the moon," says He
Weiliang, professor with Beijing University of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, "but being a member
of this club is not just a testimony of our space
progress. It is also our scientific duty."
The doyen of China's moon program,
renowned geologist Ouyang Ziyuan, has been more
forthright about the broader political background
to the country's space ambitions. "The lunar
expedition will increase China's political
influence in the world," he said in a statement
posted on the Chinese Academy of Science's
website.
China has been accused of being
highly secretive about its space program, which
after years of setbacks in most recent time has
taken huge strides forward, in line with the
country's spectacular economic rise.
China
is only the third country to have sent astronauts
into orbit using its own rockets. And earlier this
year Beijing alarmed the US and other Asian
countries by shooting down one of its aging
weather satellites and displaying unsuspected
sophistication of antimissile technology.
Since then though, the country has faced
rising concerns about its intentions in space and
questions about its commitment to keep the space
weapons free. By giving unprecedented publicity
and information on the launch of the lunar probe,
Beijing has tried to relay a message that it is a
peaceful player in the space exploration game.
"China will not be involved in a moon race
with any other country," Luan Enjie, chief
commander of the lunar orbiter project, told the
state news agency Xinhua, stressing that Beijing
would adhere to a "policy of peaceful use of
space".
The US continues to be suspicious
of China's space program and has so far rejected
Beijing's efforts to join the International Space
Station. But experts say isolating China from the
world's space club could only foster an even more
ambitious desire for the country to do it all
alone.
Accidentally or by virtue of
careful planning, the launch of the Chang'e-1
probe took place just hours after the US space
shuttle Discovery's liftoff for the International
Space Station.
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