Beijing ¨C As ?NASA¡¯s record-breaking Artemis mission bolsters the U.S. path back to the moon, China¡¯s bid to land astronauts there by 2030 is taking on greater geopolitical significance and putting pressure on Beijing to meet or beat its timetable.
Four U.S. astronauts on the Artemis II mission this week flew past the moon¡¯s shadowed far side, traveling deeper into space than any humans before?them and setting the stage for Artemis IV to land on the moon in 2028.
The planned U.S. return after more than half a century is being ?closely watched in China, which is developing the full architecture for its first crewed landing on the moon, from the Long March-10 rocket to the Mengzhou ?spacecraft and ?Lanyue lunar lander.
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