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Astronauts have already died during space flights prior to reaching the Moon (and afterward), so that hasn't been a show stopper. What usually happens instead is a break to address the engineering issues identified.
The problem is that there have not been those engineering problems (as far as landing humans) for us all to fix them. Experience brings benefits and while we have not been sending humans out to other planets we have not had the problems which go with those expeditions to fix. Those trips would give us more experience which ultimately makes it safer for all. THAT is why the loss of old skills and experience makes it so hard to start those human trips again. I wonder if the modern astronauts could think on their feet well enough to land a spacecraft when things went wrong, like the old Apollo astronauts had to do.
I am glad Americans walked on the moon. It was invigorating and makes me proud.
That said, what compelling knowledge did we learn from it? What human advancements came from it?
The moon program paid big dividends, such as the development of the microchip that is revolutionized life. I am asking what specific knowledge and advancements came from what we found on the moon?
Other than that, the entire reason we went to the moon was based on an idiotic face-saving competition with our political mortal arch-enemy of the day. The drive to go to the moon was nothing more than a "we were first. Na na na na na!" to the Soviet Unions.
Talk about a stupid reason.
Beating the Nazis to develop the atom bomb was a race for existence and all the marbles. Winner take all.
Beating the Soviets to the moon gave us, what again? Besides prestige and the microchip.
That said, what compelling knowledge did we learn from it?
Well, for example, from the rocks we learned that the Moon was formed when a proto-planet dubbed Theia collided with the primordial Earth. That led to much progress in understanding how the Solar System as a whole formed, as well as how the Earth got its oceans.
China's endeavors in space exploration have been increasingly ambitious, and this latest mission certainly reflects that trend. Launching a complex 4-stage vehicle to retrieve rocks from the far side of the Moon is a remarkable feat of engineering and scientific pursuit.
This mission likely involves several key stages:
Launch Vehicle: The initial stage involves launching the spacecraft into Earth orbit. China has developed various launch vehicles like the Long March series, which are capable of carrying payloads into space.
I am glad Americans walked on the moon. It was invigorating and makes me proud.
That said, what compelling knowledge did we learn from it? What human advancements came from it?
The moon program paid big dividends, such as the development of the microchip that is revolutionized life. I am asking what specific knowledge and advancements came from what we found on the moon?
Other than that, the entire reason we went to the moon was based on an idiotic face-saving competition with our political mortal arch-enemy of the day. The drive to go to the moon was nothing more than a "we were first. Na na na na na!" to the Soviet Unions.
Talk about a stupid reason.
Beating the Nazis to develop the atom bomb was a race for existence and all the marbles. Winner take all.
Beating the Soviets to the moon gave us, what again? Besides prestige and the microchip.
From my own perspective, there is a lot which is learned from all of this space technology. There is a series on some channel on TV called Inside NASAs Innovations and they do seem to be at the cutting edge of many technologies. Although, personally I think that NASA is a huge money sink and there are waaay too many private companies and contractors who have gained at the US people's expense because the government funds NASA and NASA gives out all these contracts to other companies. The expertise is now with those other companies NOT with NASA, so basically the governments money has been given to someone else. We need to be aware of this. All the Boeings and other companies have the technologies and now use them for their own shareholders profits.
I still think the original moonshot and Gemini Apollo era was pretty impressive and all of the stuff which was learned from that (which has now been largely lost). I know the competition aspect of it all seems stupid but it is the governments way to talk-up the threat from Russia/China/North Korea so they can sell more arms to the US military and friendly countries.
I suspect some economies are driven by certain industries and the US economy is largely driven by the military and supplying that military with new arms. NASA is part of that because it funnels money for the government. In China, it is the construction industry, so each country has a policy of funelling money into certain industries which they have placed at the heart of their economy.
Touchdown of Chang'e 6 on the far side will happen this weekend!
Chang'e 6 is apparently targeting a landing on Sunday (June 2) Beijing time, which would likely be Saturday evening (June 1) for folks in North America. The mission will then spend three days studying its landing area and collecting samples. This sequence will be followed by the sample-loaded ascent module rocketing off the moon into lunar orbit, for rendezvous and docking with the mission's lunar orbiter component.
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