In that time, Mao Zedong was nearing his death, and China was in its massive Cultural Revolution. Since then, China has grown in population, wealth, and military prowess; it has become a global superpower. This is a major testament to how much China has grown in the past 39 years, and they show no signs of stopping their increasing presence in space. However, the successes of the United States, Soviet Union, and China would be nonexistent if not for a Renaissance scientist's works in mapping the surface of the moon; Galileo Galilei.
 |
| A model of China's first robotic moon rover. |
Galileo Galilei, as many of us know, was a very influential scientist in the Renaissance. He made lots of advancements in many fields of science, including creating one of the first telescopes. One of his works was the extensive examination of the moon, and the cause of the patterns of lights and darks on the moon's surface. He deduced that the differences of light was because of mountains and craters on the moon's surface. Galileo even went as far as estimating the heights of the landforms, and he also created topological charts of the moon's surface.
More accurate forms of this knowledge would be vital for anyone wanting to put anything on the moon, and Galileo's studies helped future scientists to figure out this information. So if by any chance you end up working for NASA's lunar program, make sure to thank your good ol' pal Galileo Galilei.
Sources:
Buckley, Chris. "As Rover Lands, China Joins Moon Club." New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/world/asia/china-lands-probe-on-the-moon-report-says.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fscience%2Fspace%2Findex.jsonp
Galileo Galilei. Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei
"China's first robotic lunar rover" New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2013/12/14/world/15china.html
James,
ReplyDeleteYour writing piece was a very interesting vessel of information, as it connected very relevant modern society and science to something from the fairly distant past that we studied in class. I thought that you did an excellent job doing this, and I was interested to hear about China’s endeavors on the moon in relation to Galileo’s thoughts and teachings. I also found it helpful how you managed to get the information across to the reader without giving too much information and making it hard to read. The only suggestion I have is to grab the reader a little more with some exciting space information or something else that would be interesting, not that the information that you started with isn’t. Anywho, excellent job!
-Travis