Space Race: China and Europe's Moon Base Collaboration

Representatives from the European Space Agency and China are beginning discussions on collaborating on a massive step forward in space exploration - putting a permanent base on the moon.This "moon village" would be a launch pad for other human missions into deeper parts of space, likely beginning with Mars. In addition, it could serve as an outlet for space tourism or lunar mining.This discussion marks one of the largest steps forward in human space exploration.

The pressure is already building in the States to join the competition before it progresses much further. Space firms held a meeting with the US Senate to discuss the repercussions on businesses should they fall behind, but they also spoke about the patriotic consequences as well - China and Europe could easily take the lead in a sphere that was once totally dominated by American innovation.Talks of a US partnership with the European Space Agency to create a moon base had been broached under the Obama administration, but NASA became more focused on Mars and commercial exploration than manned missions. So far, Trump's administration hasn't responded to the move, nor have they outlined a definitive course on a space strategy, but many are hopeful that the focus will shift to lunar activity. The administration has previously discussed speeding up operations to support a manned mission to Mars, among other efforts.All of these factors could signal a revived interest globally in manned space exploration, and may even trigger a new "space race," mirroring the fierce technological competition during the Cold War era that brought the world Sputnik, the American moon landing, and massive leaps forward in aerospace technology.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dY5ZiPEWiI