Next stage of lunar quest launched
Print Edition
CHINA will launch a Chang’e-5 probe by the end of this year to bring moon samples back to Earth, a senior official of the China National Space Administration announced yesterday.
The Chang’e-4 mission has realized the first soft landing on the far side of the moon, and its success has inaugurated the fourth phase of China’s lunar exploration program.
“Experts are still discussing and verifying the feasibility of subsequent projects, but it’s confirmed that there will be another three missions after Chang’e-5,” said Wu Yanhua, deputy head of the CNSA.
According to Wu, the Chang’e-6 mission will be designed to bring samples back from the South Pole of the moon.
“Whether the probe will land on the near side or the far side of the moon, we will make the decision according to the performance of Chang’e-5,” he said.
The Chang’e-7 mission will carry out comprehensive surveys around the South Pole, including studying terrain and landform, physical composition as well as the space environment in the region.
The Chang’e-8 mission, in addition to scientific surveys and experiments, will test key technologies to lay the groundwork for the construction of a science and research base on the moon.
China, the United States, Russia and some European countries all want to try out technologies needed for such a scientific lunar base.
“For example, can we build houses on the moon with lunar soil using 3D printing technology?” Wu said.
“We hope that Chang’e-8 will help test some technologies, and do some exploring for the building of a joint lunar base shared by multiple countries.”
He also revealed that China will send a probe to Mars around 2020.
Meanwhile, China’s second lunar rover Yutu-2, or Jade Rabbit-2, which is also the first rover on the moon’s far side, will face great challenges because of the complicated terrain.
The Chang’e-4 probe, including a lander and a rover, touched down on the Von Karman Crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon on January 3, with the rover driving onto the lunar surface late that night.
“From the images sent back from Chang’e-4, we can see the area surrounding the probe is dotted with craters of different sizes,” said Sun Zezhou, chief designer of the Chang’e-4 probe. “It’s very difficult for the rover to drive in the region.
“We’ll try to find relatively safe areas and make a reasonable plan for the route of the rover based on the images taken by it.”
The rover is capable of avoiding some obstacles. If there are obstacles in front, it can stop and plan a new route on its own. It can also climb some slopes and cross some rocks.
“We haven’t found any insurmountable obstacle in the region,” Sun said.
He said the Chang’e-4 probe has achieved the expected landing precision. The telemetry information and images taken by a camera on the probe showed that the spacecraft effectively avoided obstacles.
The probe has started its scientific exploration, focusing on studying the terrain and landforms, the lunar environment, and substance composition, said Wu Weiren, chief designer of China’s lunar program.
“This is the first exploration on the surface of the far side,” Wu said. “The scientific research will be innovative and influential both at home and abroad.”
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