I'm John B. This is CBS I in the world and I'm with Rick Fisher of the International Assessment

and Strategy Center beginning with the Humble-37B copycatted by the Chinese space program

that is a military program, not a civilian program.

We go now to the moon, the surface of the moon, the new moon race, according to headlines in Washington.

This moon race also includes a utopian idea called the Artemis Accords, which is a legal framework

that many nations have signed on to to prevent the militarization of the surface of the moon.

To militarize moon, however, you got to get there.

The Chinese have shown they have the ability to put a lander on the moon,

but manned moon environment requires a lot more than the lift for a small craft on the other side of the moon.

Rick, we've reviewed this before, but it's necessary now in light of the moon race and its militarized flavor.

What is the Chinese plan to get to the moon? What boosters do they have?

Well, John, in about 2025 or 2026, they will begin testing their long March 10,

uh, which is a three stack booster that can loft about 27 tons to the

moon.

China will use two of those, one to loft a manned spacecraft, a new generation manned spacecraft.

And the second to loft a manned moon lander. They will dock in moon orbit and the moon

lander will take on a crew of two and will then descend to the moon's surface.

But before the manned portion of the lander descends to the surface, the lander will also detach from a booster that

will have brought the lander across this lunar space to lunar orbit.

That booster will then crash into the surface of the moon.

Recent Chinese internet revelations indicate that the booster could be crashing about two kilometers

away from where the man moon lander lands.

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