China plans to send two astronauts to the Moon by 2030.
At an event titled “Exhibition of Achievements of the Chinese Manned Space Program,” which opened in Shanghai, China showed models of rockets and spacecraft that the country is developing to send its astronauts to the moon, Space writes.
The exhibition features the Chang Zheng-10 launch vehicle, a lander that will carry two astronauts from orbit to the Moon, and a new manned spacecraft.
According to designer Fan Ping of the Shanghai Academy of Space Technology, quoted by Chinese media, the development of the lunar lander and the new spacecraft took advantage of previous technologies. The development of a manned lunar rover is also underway.
China has already been able to send three successful robotic missions to the moon, called Chang’e-3, Chang’e-4, and Chang’e-5. The last lander, as Focus has already written, detected water on the Moon for the first time 2 years ago. In May of this year, as Focus has already written, China will send the Chang’e-6 lander to the Moon, which will land on the back of the Moon and collect samples of local rock for the first time in history. After that, it will be delivered to Earth for study. By the way, the Chang’e-5 lander collected samples on the Moon back in 2020, but on its visible side, and they are still being studied by scientists.
As for China’s manned mission to the Moon, which is scheduled to take place at the end of this decade, the launch of two Chang Zheng-10 rockets is being countered. One will launch a lander, and the other will launch a spacecraft with Chinese astronauts.
The spacecraft and the module will dock in orbit around the Moon, after which two astronauts will move to the lander and head to the surface of the Earth’s satellite. Within 6 hours, the astronauts will collect samples of local rock and conduct various scientific studies.
According to China’s plans, after the successful landing of astronauts on the Moon, work will begin on the construction of a lunar base called the International Lunar Research Station. It is known that Venezuela, South Africa, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Egypt, Russia, and Belarus have already joined the project.
The SLIM lander, created in Japan, was able to work on the Moon for only 3 days and then shut down. But scientists hope that it will be able to survive the cold moonlit night and start working again. In a short time, according to Japanese scientists, SLIM has collected a lot of valuable data, but the study of which has already begun. The module also sent photographs of the lunar surface, namely the area near the landing site.
Also, the nearly 300-meter asteroid is on its way to approaching the Earth. This stone will be the closest to our planet in more than 100 years, and the next time this will happen will be at the end of the 22nd century. You can also follow the asteroid’s approach to our planet online.
