China, which just recently landed a probe on the moon, is a serious competitor to the United States in space, according to Vice President Mike Pence.
Speaking throughout a conference of the National Space Council at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, Pence highlighted China’s current success in landing an uncrewed probe on the moon in an objective to obtain lunar samples.
“China is emerging as a serious competitor in space,” he stated.
The objective, he kept in mind “raised the red flag of China” on the lunar surface area.
Pence, who is chair of the National Space Council, stated that comparable to the space race that put American astronauts on the moon, the U.S. continues to face “an era of competition.”
NASA ASTRONAUTS END UP BEING LATEST SPACEPORT STATION RESIDENTS IN HISTORIC SPACEX TEAM DRAGON OBJECTIVE
“It’s a competition that America is winning today and we’re going to keep on winning in space for generations to come,” he stated.
A brand-new nationwide space policy that declares America’s dedication to management in space was likewise released Wednesday.
In thisNov 17, 2020, image launched by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a Long March -5 rocket is moved at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Wenchang in southern China’s HainanProvince (GuoCheng/Xinhua by means of AP)
AfterApollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969, just 10 more males, all Americans, have actually strolled on the lunar surface area. The last NASA astronaut to set foot on the moon was Apollo 17 Mission Commander Gene Cernan, onDec 14, 1972.
NASA’s Artemis program goals to land American astronauts on the moon in 2024 and develop a sustainable human existence on Earth’s natural satellite. A crucial element of the Artemis program is landing the very first female on the moon.
“We’re going to honor Gene Cernan’s memory by putting the next man and the first woman on the moon in a few short years,” stated Pence.
NASA TESTS BOOSTER ROCKET FOR FUTURE ARTEMIS MISSIONS TO THE MOON
However, some legislators have actually advised NASA to hold-up putting U.S. boots on the moon up until 2028.
2020 has actually been a special year for NASA. Last month 3 NASA astronauts and their fellow team member from the Japanese Space Agency boarded the International Space Station following a historical flight in a Space X Crew Dragon spacecraft.
The very first functional Space X Crew Dragon launch marked an essential turning point for the space program. Crew -1 follows an effective Demo -2 objective previously this year and is the very first team rotation flight on a U.S. business spacecraft.
Earlier this year the Demo -2 objective marked the very first time that astronauts have actually released from American soil given that the last Space Shuttle flight in 2011.
Speaking on Wednesday, Pence admired the “renewed American leadership in space” that laid the structures for 2020’s historical crewed objectives. “Those rockets were built by American private industry,” he included.
The newly-created Space Force likewise made its very first launch previously this year when it sent out a military satellite into space from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
CLICK ON THIS LINK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
After completion of the Space Shuttle program, the U.S. depend on Russian Soyuz rockets released from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to get astronauts into space. Russia charges the U.S. about $75 million to send out an astronaut into space, and the Associated Press reports that the last Soyuz ticket expense America $90 million.
FoxNews’ Chris Ciaccia and The Associated Press contributed to this short article.
FollowJames Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers
