Driftspace
China's space agency announced in late August that it was postponing its Chang'e
China's space agency announced in late August that it was postponing its Chang'e 7 lunar mission, originally set to launch from Hainan island on a Long March 5 rocket. Officials cited a comprehensive safety assessment and the principle of ensuring mission reliability, without specifying exact technical reasons; several reports pointed to disruption from a passing typhoon as a contributing factor. The mission was designed to survey the lunar south pole, including permanently shadowed craters that may contain water ice — a resource scientists believe could support longer-term human presence on the moon. The delay pushes the earliest possible launch to 2027. Several national space agencies and commercial programmes are targeting the same region of the moon, making the question of who can explore and use its potential resources a subject of growing international discussion. How do you think decisions about access to resources found on the moon should be made — and by whom?