Greg Klein, in Part I of his coverage, reports that nearly a century before laggard Europeans got around to their Age of Exploration, Chinese merchant vessels had been travelling at least as far as eastern Africa, returning with vast shiploads of treasure. The voyages ended abruptly in 1433, for reasons debated by historians, and rulers ordered a massive merchant fleet destroyed. That largely left the New World to Westerners, evidently not a policy China intends to repeat. Now the country plans the conquest of three new frontiers ... deep underground, deep sky and deep sea.
Such are the goals of Three Deep, a five-year plan announced last month by the Ministry of Land and Resources. China funding R and D that would take mineral exploration deeper than ever on land and at sea, while exploring from outer space as well. But formidable as they are, the three frontiers are not completely uncharted. The expansionist, resource-hungry regime will have competition.
China plans technology for undersea mineral exploration and mining, working towards the ability to send a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to 11 kilometers depth by 2020, the paper added. That is slightly beyond the deepest known point of any seabed. The country has already sent an ROV seven kilometers deep in the Pacific. In the Indian Ocean, Chinese have been studying seabed mining technology on a 10,000-square-kilometer area south of Madagascar, the SCMP stated.
Going from the depths to space, China wants 27 satellites in orbit by 2020 to conduct surveys and research, partly on terrestrial mineral potential. The country also has expressed ambitions for Moon and Mars landings, and for sending its citizens into space. A Chinese competitor to SpaceX, One Space Technology, plans its first commercial rocket launch in 2018.
then go to Part II:
http://resourceclips.com/2016/10/12/pushing-the-boundaries/
Resource Portal for I2M Clients, Associates, and Geoscientists
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-