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From the NYT article [0] on the topic: "We Chinese people have done something that the Americans have not dared try.” -- someone associated with the Chinese space agency

Why so insecure? Not a good look.

[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/02/world/asia/china-change-4...

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I'm pretty happy if China wants to throw shade at the US over space program accomplishments. I'd prefer a measuring contest over space accomplishments then building more earth-bound weapons systems.

No need to choose, you'll get both!

What's the point of a measuring contest followed by building more weapons?

And how long before the space program accomplishments start looking just a little like space-based weapons systems. I’m sure Chinese military leadership can extrapolate as well as the Pentagon can.

Military interest in the moon goes back quite a ways. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunex_Project for example, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Horizon

As soon as possible. Man being man, we only seem to be able to accomplish things under threat of violence.

this stupid comment is from a professor from Macau who is not even a part of the team. if NYT cares to spend more time, surely it can find even more extreme views from 1.4 billion average Chinese. the question is how that is newsworthy.

sad for those people who read such NYT junk on daily basis.

It sounds like a flamebait from NYT. I would not bite.

Agreed. This professor didn't even work on the mission.

"have not dared try"

This mission wasn't difficult from an astro perspective, and was only moderately challenging from a satellite comms perspective.

It just wasn't that high on the priority list.

Welcome to any discussion about China.

Weird comment given Space X is about to start moon orbit tourism trips.

Yes, at the end of 2018

https://www.spacex.com/news/2017/02/27/spacex-send-privately...

2023 is the launch date. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DearMoon_project

Now. 3 years ago the launch date was 2018

It’s easy to promise. I hope spacex deliver, and I hope it does by 2030. That would be great.

But for now “about to start” is as meaningful as Branson’s statements back in 2003.

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