A new space race is beginning; this time, it's the Chinese that has the vision to lead humanity into its next big leap.
The destination is Mars, and China appears ready to step into the driver's seat. Already, China's space agency was claiming impressive discoveries made on landing technology as well as craft re-entry. This means that humanity's first landing on Mars has a question of 'when?' more than 'if,' and it could move China's plans ahead by a significant margin from where it is currently.
The Beijing Institute of Space Mechanics and Electronics (BISME) made the announcement last May after a successful airdrop test. The para-drop was to test next-generation spacecraft for manned spaceflight, successors to the current Shenzhou manned capsules. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation announced that 20-metric and 14-metric variants of the capsules are being made.
According to Space News, these space capsules are meant for lunar and Mars landings, respectively. The capsule will be able to carry four to six astronauts and will be designed to house modules. This announcement was made by China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) chief engineer Zhang Bainan, who is currently assigned to work on the capsules.
The capsules may be the first step into a more ambitious undertaking, however.
Warp drive, as outlandish as it sounds, might become possible in the near future. NASA believes that, and it is reportedly working on an engine that can fold space-time to drastically lessen the number of years needed to travel through space.
More than creating this technology, however, is the question of actually having a working model. China claims to have that technology in a few years' time, rather than some. CAST once again claims a breakthrough on warp technology and has been funding research into the technology, Express UK reports. This puts it ahead of NASA in the department of warp technology studies.
These claims notwithstanding, China will push ahead with plans to test a variant of its Long March series-the Long March 5-for low-orbit missions. It also plans to test a rocket next year, although there is no clear description about which rocket it will be. The popular choice is that it would be a larger, better version of the rocket China's space agency tested out in 2016. So far, for CAST, it's been all systems go.
