A new "Space Race"

[r4pt0r]

Mikhail Gorbachev says we are on the brink of a new cold war.

What are the chances we can get a new Space race too? China is making good progress on the Lunar front with the success of the Chang'e 3 lander/rover, and the British are planning on getting their own Lunar mission too. India's surprisingly cheap Mars orbiter mission has returned beautiful photographs, and more tasty,tasty data on the martian atmosphere.

Is the Space scene heating up into a competition like the good ol' days?

AND WITHIN THE NEXT 7 MONTHS WE WILL SEE PLUTO IN HI-DEF!

Edited November 20, 2014 by r4pt0r

[zekes]

I hope so! I mean, we probably should, because we're ripping this planet apart with all our oil and cheap products we're throwing away our world. We need a new space race to get people active in saving our planet.

[Kerbart]

I hope so! I mean, we probably should, because we're ripping this planet apart with all our oil and cheap products we're throwing away our world. We need a new space race to get people active in saving our planet.

The previous space race did bring us advancements but once milestones were reached and bragging rights were achieved things would stop. I don't think it would help us.

If farming were a space race, we'd make sure we'd have the biggest field on the block, plant one square yard in the corner and scream victory when our cornstalk reached maturity. We'd then proudly show the corn cob we produced. Of course, the rest of the field was left unplanted and we'd never be able to feed a reasonable amount of people with it; but we won the race.

If a new cold war would ignite a new space race (and that's a lot of “if's†daisy-chained together) I doubt things would be that much different.

[prophet_01]

I was thinking the same when I read about chinas and indias ambitions. I don't think we will get something like the space race (at least not on that scale) but a certain level of competition seems to be there. At least for the newer agencies. As those are developing I kinda hope that the us and european goverments feel a need to show that they are still one step ahead and capable of showing off theire know how.

It's not a real space race yet but who nows what happens if china and india get closer to the top. And after all the comercial space agencies will create competition on the market which usually brings new technologies. I also rly bope that the skylon will turn out to be more than a pipe dream

[Sun]

Also, considering Russia's numerous international breaches recently....

[Vanamonde]

Keep the discussion away from politics, please.

[megatiger78]

politics? you mean that thing that is a supplement for alien invassions?

[JethroReading]

Humanity will only reach success once the Culture intervene!

[r4pt0r]

Is there a site that has a list like this that lists all planned or currently active space missions? to the moon, mars, titan ect.?

all listed in one place, because that would be great.

[Kryten]

Do you mean just planetary missions, or actually all space missions?

[r4pt0r]

yeah i guess. maybe im not in the know, but i found out about new horizons because it was trending on facebook. And I would like to know what other agencies are working on because it interests me lol

[Godot]

The chances are 0 IMHO.

The only thing with enough prestige to be part of a new space race would be a manned landing on Mars.

And I am sure that neither Russia nor the USA would want to spend the money that such a mission would cost (surely several multiples of the Moon mission).

[Red Iron Crown]

Is there a site that has a list like this that lists all planned or currently active space missions? to the moon, mars, titan ect.?

all listed in one place, because that would be great.

Planned is tough, mostly because so many missions are planned and so few actually come to fruition. There's a decent list of currently active missions (excluding ones in Earth orbit) on wikipedia here.

[Kryten]

yeah i guess. maybe im not in the know, but i found out about new horizons because it was trending on facebook. And I would like to know what other agencies are working on because it interests me lol

The active ones have been given above; if we restrict ourselves to plausible, actually planned and funded (rather than proposed) missions then it should be easy enough to collate one. Here's my effort, tell me if I've missed anything;

(Dates are subject to slippage, especially Russian ones)

2014

Hayabusa 2: JAXA; launches November 30th; planned to rendezvous with asteroid 1999 JU3 and return samples to earth. Carries a joint DLR/CNES 'hopper' lander called MASCOT and multiple smaller JAXA landers called MINERVA II

PROCYON: JAXA/University of Tokyo; launches November 30th (secondary payload on Hayabusa 2 launch); planned to perform an asteroid flyby using ion engine, exact target to be determined after a test of the engine performance after launch

2015

Barcelona Moon Team Lander/Rover; Barcelona moon team/China Great Wall Industry Corporation; launches June 2015; planned to be first privately-funded moon lander as part of the Google lunar x prize (there are other competitors, but no confirmed launches)

2016

Exomars 2016; ESA/Roscosmos; January; mars mission, with an orbiter (the Trace Gas Orbiter), and a lander demonstrator (Schiaperelli)

Insight; NASA; March; Mars lander with seismometer and heat flow instrument

Bepicolombo; ESA/JAXA; July 9th; Mercury orbiter mission, with two separate orbiters; JAXA's Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter and ESA's Mercury Planetary Orbiter

Mars Observation Mission; ISRO (India); Mars orbiter

2017

Solar Orbiter; ESA; July; Solar orbiter, planned to approach to within 60 solar radii

OSIRIS-Rex; NASA; September; Asteroid sample return mission

Chang'e 4; CNSA; Lunar lander with rover, very similar to flown Chang'e 3 mission

Chandrayaan II; ISRO; lunar lander with small rover

2018

Orion EFT-1; NASA; No later than November; test of to-be-crewed spacecraft, lunar flyby

Solar Probe Plus; NASA; Solar orbiter probe, planned to approach within less than nine solar radii

Chang'e 5; CNSA; Lunar lander and orbiter, sample return mission with lunar-orbit rendezvous

2019

Luna-Glob lander/Luna-25; Roscosmos; lunar lander, mostly technological demonstration for later missions, will land near to south pole

Asteroid Retrieval Spacecraft/Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission; NASA; To capture asteroid and bring to earth vicinity for later crewed visit

2020

Lunar Orbiter; KARI (South Korea)

Lunar lander and rover; KARI

Exomars 2018 (see what I meant about slippage?); ESA/Roscosmos; large, exobiology-focused Mars rover

2020 Rover; NASA; large rover, identical chassis to MSL/Curiosity, will cache samples for future sample return mission

Mars Global Remote Sensing Orbiter/Unnamed Rover; CNSA; first Chinese Mars mission, to deliver small rover to surface

2021

Luna-glob Orbiter/Luna-26; Roscosmos; Lunar orbiter

2022

Interglio-Zond-1; Roscosmos; Solar orbiter probe, will approach within 60-70 solar radii of the sun

JUICE; ESA; Jupiter mission intended to ultimately enter Ganymede orbit; will study the outer three Gallilean moons, the Jovian magneotosphere, and Jupiter

Europa Clipper; NASA; 'midyear'; intended to make multiple flybies of Europa

2023

Interglio-Zond-2; Roscosmos; Solar orbiter probe, will approach within 60-70 solar radii of the sun

Luna-Resurs/Luna-27; Roscosmos; lunar lander, similar to Luna-25 but with much larger scientific payload

Unnamed Mars Mission; CNSA; to deliver large rover to surface

2024

Venus Exploration Orbiter; CNSA; an Orbiter to Explore Venus

2025

Main Belt Asteroid Sample Return; CNSA; to Return Samples from Main Belt Asteroid (apparently Ceres)

2027

Solar Polar Orbit Observer; CNSA; to Observe Sun from Polar Orbit, minimum distance as yet unknown

2028

Jupiter Orbiter; CNSA; to Orbit Jupiter

Edited November 21, 2014 by Kryten

[GoSlash27]

I lived through the last cold war. I would not consider a new space race something to be excited about if it comes with that price tag.

Best,

-Slashy

[SciMan]

I may have missed out on most of the Cold War (born 1988), but all the data I have gathered tells me that the "good old days"... weren't.

[Frozen_Heart]

A new space race would be good but as before the advances would only be temporary. What is really needed is cheap and reusable access to space. Only then will the space scene really take off.

A new space race coming at the same time as reusable launch systems would be really good though!

[mrrpamplemousse]

Perhaps the next space race will no be between nations, but between private companies?

[Kryten]

Perhaps the next space race will no be between nations, but between private companies?

Why would they race? There's no commercial market for anything more than a few tons at a time to GTO.

[mrrpamplemousse]

Why would they race? There's no commercial market for anything more than a few tons at a time to GTO.

True enough, maybe when we will have exploited all the Earth could give us (i.e. Water)?

[NASAFanboy]

True enough, maybe when we will have exploited all the Earth could give us (i.e. Water)?

You mean in 10,000 years, when all of humanity is dead from nuclear war or a dies are or a asteroid?

I'd rather not wait. To believe that we will run out of water is ridiculous; we'd nuke each other first

[Nikolai]

Why would they race? There's no commercial market for anything more than a few tons at a time to GTO.

It's also the case that there's no capability to do anything but put a few tons at a time to GTO.

Perhaps what we need to be doing is figuring out why it would be useful to do substantially more -- and create the market if we can.

[xtoro]

There will be a space race when history repeats itself.

As soon as someone finds a plentiful source of energy/fuel from off-planet, whether it be from asteroid or Mars or Moon mining, the race will begin to take hold of said sources of fuel and claim sovereignty.

It will be just like all wars and battles over resources throughout human history, but this one will begin with a race to space to get mining supplies out there quickly.

When that happens, it won't be long before there are spacecraft with weapons on board to either defend their stake, or to take it from someone else. But that's a whole other kettle of fish.

[Kryten]

It's also the case that there's no capability to do anything but put a few tons at a time to GTO.

Perhaps what we need to be doing is figuring out why it would be useful to do substantially more -- and create the market if we can.

DIVH and Atlas heavy are commercially available-no orders from anyone except the NRO.

[Special Agent Sigvan]

Hmm....

Cold War + Space Race

Peace

Cold War

Peace

Tell me which seems like the best for the people?

Seriously people, a Cold War won't bring anything. Nothing. No space race is worth the risk. A few years without space is far better then running the risk of being nuked (From space) every half hour.

Nothing good is gonna come of this.

Of course, if we're being hypothetical, it's a one in a million shot. But it would probably be the best scientific advancement when all's said and done, and people have made friends again.

Often times the least likely things are the things that are either cataclysmic, or greatly beneficial.