Lead
In 2003, the mainland successfully launched the mainland's first manned spacecraft, and two years later, the mainland's astronauts entered the International Space Station and began the construction of this scientific research space station.
Just recently, the mainland also launched the Tianhe core module, it can be said that the construction of the continent's space station has entered the countdown stage, after more than ten years of precipitation and accumulation, the continent's space station construction can be said to be the world's leading level.
But just when the construction of the continental space station is about to be completed, the United States also announced that it will launch the lunar gateway space station before 2024 to replace the International Space Station that was forced to retire.
1. The United States abandons the International Space Station.
The International Space Station will be permanently discontinued in 2024, but according to the life of the International Space Station, the International Space Station can be used until at least 2030, but the current situation of the International Space Station is also very unoptimistic, and it can only be used until 2024.
The main materials used in the ISS are steel, aluminum, and plastic steel, and although these materials are still very durable on the ground, in space, these materials will be exposed to radiation, severe temperature differences, and the impact of space debris, etc., which will increase the further aging and aging of the ISS.
So the operation of the ISS can only be extended until 2024, and the United States has also begun to prepare for a successor to the ISS, the Lunar Gateway station in the Alfemis program.
However, although there is a lunar portal space station in the Alfermis program, in fact, this lunar portal space station was not built by the United States itself, but by the private enterprise of the United States, and under the leadership of this private enterprise, the United States also handed over the management and use of the International Space Station to private enterprises.
This means that the United States will occupy the ISS alone until 2024, and after 2024, the United States will also have a lunar gateway space station, which makes astronauts who have worked on the ISS for decades feel very uncomfortable, thinking that this move by the United States is undermining the spirit of cooperation on the ISS.
Therefore, after the United States abandoned the International Space Station, Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency in the alliance expressed their dissatisfaction to varying degrees, and after the United States abandoned the International Space Station, several partners of the United States also looked for new partners, among which the European Space Agency reached a cooperation agreement with the continent, which also made the United States feel very unhappy.
Therefore, after the United States abandoned the International Space Station, there was a rhetoric that the United States would also cooperate with the International Space Station in 2028, but this was nothing more than the United States saying in order to ease its relationship with the International Space Station, and it was just wishful thinking on the part of the United States.
2. The U.S. lunar gateway space station.
In the contract signed between the United States and the private company, the private company will be responsible for the management and daily operation and maintenance of the International Space Station, and the private company has also signed a contract with NASA with a total value of $10 billion to ensure that the ISS can complete its mission on time, which also means that the company will use the United States $10 billion to complete the ISS program.
The United States will pay the $10 billion according to the completion progress of the private enterprise, which is also a major reason why the United States gave up the International Space Station, the United States handed over the management and daily operation and maintenance of the International Space Station to the private company, but the private company can master the $10 billion research and development fund, which makes the private company see the vast benefit.
Because private companies are enterprises outside the United States, and enterprises within the United States have no opportunity to participate, this makes the United States' original plan to establish more space companies come to naught, and some private companies want to divest out of America's allies, which makes the United States also see a larger market, so the United States handed over the right to use the international air station to private companies.
After receiving $10 billion from the United States, the private company decided to build a new space station, which is the Lunar Gateway Space Station, and the name of the Lunar Gateway Space Station is also given by a private company, and the Lunar Gateway Space Station will use components that are not used by the International Space Station, and after 2024, it will be sent to lunar orbit to build a lunar space station with the continental space station.
The United States calls this lunar space station the "lunar gateway space station", and the continental space station and this lunar space station have a very big similarity, the continental space station and the lunar space station are at the same orbital altitude of 400 kilometers, the continental space station needs to be completed through the Tianhe core module, and the lunar space station is assembled using the modules and orbits of the International Space Station.
In addition, the mainland's space station has a name, that is, the "Chinese space station", while the United States did not name the lunar space station, but only called it the "lunar gateway space station".
The mainland has abundant experience and technology in the construction of the space station, and the construction of the Tianhe core module has learned the lessons of the International Space Station, so the continental space station is also relatively stable, while the United States has never built a space station, although the United States has strong experience in the construction of spacecraft.
However, these spacecraft are not suitable for space stations, so the United States and private companies do not have experience in building space stations, which also makes the United States and private companies even more nervous when building the lunar gateway space station, even in the cooperation between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States has no experience in building space stations from the Soviet Union.
The United States is a newcomer, so to put it mildly, the mainland is far ahead in the space station, because the continent has more than ten years of experience, and the United States has just begun to build the space station, which is also a major reason why the United States wants to abandon the International Space Station.
3. Competition between the mainland and the United States at the level of space.
However, the mainland and the United States are not really hostile in space, because in space, we are both pursuing the field of exploration, space is the space of all mankind, and space belongs to the common interests of all mankind, so in the coming days, we will further cooperate in space.
We don't have to pay too much attention to this marriage between the United States and private companies, the United States does not know whether this lunar gateway space station will be built, and it is not sure whether this lunar gateway space station will exist next year, because private companies can take 10 billion US dollars from the United States to build this lunar portal space station, which also makes the appetite of private enterprises even greater.
Private companies can use the $10 billion to a greater extent in exchange for greater benefits, and even the private sector can eventually use the $10 billion to build a Mars space station or a Jupiter space station.
epilogue
The continent is very advanced in space exploration, and it has also been recognized by all countries in the world in international space cooperation, so in the future, we will work with other countries to explore the unknown territory of space.
In the age of space, the development of human beings will also go more broadly, and human beings on the earth and human beings in other worlds may also coexist.