Wait, is that a… Bill Blurr The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has shown off a CGI video of its vision of a lunar base, a vastly ambitious plan the country is hoping to realize in a matter of decades.
The showy — albeit dated-looking — render shows plans for the International Lunar Research Station, a Chinese and Russian endeavor that was first announced in 2021.
The video is also raising eyebrows for a bizarre cameo: a NASA Space Shuttle taking off from a launch pad in the distance, as spotted by Space.com.
As space reporter Jack Kuhr later spotted, the state-run China Global Television Network came up with an equally hilarious fix to hide the Shuttle taking off in the background.
Challenging Endeavor NASA retired its workhorse spacecraft in 2011, relying on Russia’s Soyuz capsules to staff the International Space Station until the advent of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.
Over decades, the Space Shuttle has become an iconic symbol of space exploration — and likely the most accessible 3D asset of a launching spacecraft to include in a render of a Moon base.
Just last month, NASA’s administrator Bill Nelson took aim at China, accusing its space program of hiding military experiments in Earth’s orbit.
More on China’s Moon base: China Announces Plans to Build Moon Base Using Lunar Soil
Hold on, is that a?
Bill Blarr.
A computer-generated image (CGI) depicting the China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) extremely ambitious plan to establish a lunar base within a few decades has been unveiled.
Plans for the International Lunar Research Station, a Chinese and Russian project that was first announced in 2021, are depicted in the dramatic, if antiquated-looking, render.
As seen by Space . com, the video is causing controversy due to an odd cameo in which a NASA Space Shuttle is seen launching from a distant launch pad.
Given that the Shuttle has been retired for more than ten years and that China and NASA aren’t even permitted to communicate, let alone work together, this is either a hilarious oversight or some sort of advanced comedic irony from the Chinese space program.
The state-run China Global Television Network devised an equally hilarious workaround to conceal the Shuttle taking off in the background, as space reporter Jack Kuhr later noticed.
Boom, the issue was resolved, Kuhr tweeted. Then, CGTN covered the Shuttle with a trusty blur bar. ****.
arduous undertaking.
Until SpaceX’s Crew Dragon arrived, NASA’s workhorse spacecraft was retired in 2011, and the International Space Station was manned by Russian Soyuz capsules.
The Space Shuttle, which has been a symbol of space exploration for many years, is probably the easiest to include in a 3D render of a Moon base because it is a launching spacecraft. From 1981 until 2011, the fleet of NASA’s Shuttles completed 135 missions.
With rising US-China tensions, its inclusion is all the more ironic. Bill Nelson, the administrator of NASA, publicly criticized China just a month ago, charging that country’s space program was concealing military experiments in Earth’s orbit.
Beyond mishandled promotional videos, however, China’s space agency has encountered significant challenges in its space exploration endeavors, from the successful landing of a spacecraft on the Moon’s far side to the rapid construction of a space station in just two years.
The nation’s space agency is considering locating operations inside historic lunar lava tubes and is currently working on creative methods to build lunar habitats out of bricks made of lunar soil.
In other words, China has demonstrated that it can lead the charge in creating a permanent presence on the lunar surface, even though its marketing department may not exactly be state-of-the-art.
View more about China’s moon base here: China to Construct Moon Base Using Lunar Soil.
