The United States, worried about China's "Jade Rabbit" car, pressed Armstrong's footprints. I don't know who has more footprints in the future.
Recently, the United States has sought to discuss with China the topic of "how to protect the historical relics left by the first American moon landing", which has aroused great interest. On July 20, 1969, the U.S. "Apollo 11" spacecraft "Eagle" lunar module landed safely on the moon under the control of 39-year-old American astronaut Armstrong. A few hours later, at 10:56 p.m., Armstrong stepped out of the lunar module and landed on the moon's surface, leaving his first human footprints on the desert moon.
Let's just say that Armstrong's first footprints on the moon have become a symbol of human space exploration and represent the spirit of mankind's brave exploration of the unknown world. The footprints left on the moon and other remnants of the Apollo 11 mission are of extraordinary historical and cultural value.
In order to reflect the pioneering spirit of the United States and to protect this historical site of the United States, on December 31, 2020, then President Trump signed the "One Small Step to Protect Human Space", announcing that the United States officially legislated to protect the historical relics and man-made objects left on the moon on behalf of the U.S. government during the Apollo moon landing. As a result, the United States became the first country in the world to enact a domestic law to protect its space heritage.
However, with the rapid rise of China's space exploration, the United States has suddenly become anxious about the preservation of these relics. According to Li Hongbo, a senior researcher at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, in an interview, the United States has frequently discussed with China how to protect these relics since China began exploring the surface of the moon. The "One Small Step Method" adopted by the United States in 2020 is limited to a small number of companies that cooperate with NASA, and cannot fully cover all possible scenarios, let alone require China to comply with US domestic laws, and the United States has to seek communication with China.
In this regard, Ms. Li Hongbo, senior researcher and deputy chief engineer of the First Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said in an interview that we will not have the situation of "Jade Rabbit" rutting Armstrong's footprints in China for the time being. More importantly, China has shown a pragmatic and responsible attitude.
The woman said there was no need to worry about Chinese probes destroying U.S. relics at the moment. She stressed that China will fully respect and protect these historical sites when exploring the moon. The concerns expressed by the US side are simply unnecessary, because China also needs to protect its own relics on the moon.
After Chang'e-6, the mainland will launch Chang'e-7 in 2026 and Chang'e-8 in 2028, and plans to build a basic international lunar research station by 2028 to carry out lunar environmental exploration and resource utilization test verification. By 2030, the mainland plans to achieve a manned landing on the moon. In the future, a complete international lunar research station will be built by 2040 to carry out space environmental exploration and scientific experiments on the sun, earth and moon. After that, an application-oriented lunar scientific research station will be built to form a multi-functional lunar base.
The United States has a "small step," and China will have another "big step" in the future. In the future, it is not known who will leave more relics on the moon. As far as the dialogue on the conservation of lunar relics is concerned, it also shows to some extent that the US has to accept China's rise in the global space domain.
It can be expected that when China's ability to land on the moon surpasses that of the United States in some aspects, whether the United States repeals the "Wolf Clause" or not, this clause will eventually become garbage.