A Long March 2F rocket lifts off on Sept. 29, 2011, in Jiuquan, Gansu Province of China. A more powerful version of the rocket, the Long March-7, successfully launched earlier this week. (Photo : Getty Images)
China is slowly but surely making progress in terms of space exploration, something that the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) should be worried about.
The Asian giant is taking baby steps toward its ultimate goal of occupying space outside the Earth but NASA is just shrugging it off.
While the Chinese rocket launch on Saturday was barely a huge leap, it definitely confirms that the country is bent on reaching its long-term goal even if it takes time.
Baby Steps
On Saturday, thousands of tourists witnessed the launch of the Long March-7 rocket from the new Wenchang Satellite Launch Center.
A number of news outlets caught word of the launch but shrugged it off thinking that while it was the first time that such an event is made public in China, it definitely is not something that has not been done before.
However, Ars Technica believes that the debut of the Long March-7 is a way of putting China "firmly staked its position as one of the world's great space-faring nations."
According to the outlet, the rocket is just one among a fleet of Long March rockets that "will allow China to build and service a new space station."
Such space station, says Ars Technica, will be up and running as soon as 2022 and that Saturday's launch was the delivery of cargo resupply vehicles to the space station.
NASA Refuses to Work with China
Despite this, NASA still remains unperturbed and maintains that China would not be allowed anywhere near the International Space Station (ISS).
A report from Tech Insider featured the main reason why NASA cannot work with its Chinese counterpart: a bill passed in 2011 that "expressly forbids NASA from working with China" due to reported high risk of espionage.
According to the CMSA Deputy Director General Wu Ping, the space American agency should rethink this, especially now that China is gradually seeing the fruits of its efforts toward the ultimate goal of space exploration.
"Space exploration is the common dream and wish of humankind," Wu said in a press statement." We believe that the implementation of the agreements will definitely promote international cooperation on space exploration and create opportunities for United Nations Member States, particularly developing countries, to take part in, and benefit from, the utilization of China's space station."
Former NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao, who also serves as the commander of the ISS, echoes Wu's remarks, saying that if the Americans do not do anything, the country will lost its "leadership in human spaceflight."
