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China Begins Lunar Landings Study
Oct 16, 2009
By Frank Morring, Jr. and Bradley Perrett
DAEJEON, South Korea - China is laying the groundwork to land astronauts on the moon, which would follow an ambitious lunar robotic precursor program that also could pave the way for the country's first unmanned probe to Mars.
Dong Nengli of the China Manned Space Engineering Program says his organization - which developed the Shenzhou human spacecraft and is planning an unpiloted orbital rendezvous and docking experiment in 2011 - is already looking beyond the planned deployment of a 60-ton Chinese space station in 2020.
"During the course of the third step of the China manned spaceflight program, we will conduct a manned lunar mission conception study, validate the key technologies and finally pave the way for manned lunar exploration," Dong said at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here Oct. 15.
Chinese officials stress that there has been no government approval for a manned lunar landing, and say China would "welcome" a chance to join the larger international exploration effort that has coalesced around the International Space Station.
Dong and other officials at the congress offered no details about the human-lunar concept study, instead elaborating on plans to continue gaining spaceflight experience by building toward the 60-ton, three-person space station, and to follow up the second Chang'e lunar orbiter set for launch next year with a robotic lander, rover and eventually a sample-return mission.
The first miniature space station - Tiangong 1 - is under construction and still scheduled to go into orbit in 2011 to serve as a docking target for the Shenzhou 8, which will be unmanned. There will be two or three Tiangongs, with one set up as a space laboratory in 2013. Astronauts will use it to practice medium-term stays in space and to do scientific experiments.
Since China's upcoming heavy-lift launcher, the Long March 5, will not go into service until 2014, the laboratory's mass will be limited by the throw weight of the current Long March series, the most powerful of which can lift 13 tons to low orbit.
A concept plan has been finished for the 60-ton space station, which would follow around 2020 (the previous target was "by 2020"). It will be assembled in space from three modules, matched to the capability of the Long March 5.
While China builds up experience with human space flight in low Earth orbit, it will continue sending robotic probes to the moon before bringing the two strands together with the possible manned landing. The next lunar mission will be Chang'e 2, due to be launched next October, following the successful Chang'e 1 mission of 2008-09. Chang'e 2 will orbit the moon at an altitude of 100 kilometers (60 miles), equipped with a camera with a resolution of better than 10 meters.
Chang'e 3 will land, executing phase two of the robotic lunar exploration plan, and deploy a rover. The scientific objectives include investigating the geological structure of the moon, its material composition, internal structure and usable materials, and "to build up an observatory" based on the moon. A later mission "before 2017" will be aimed at bringing lunar samples back to Earth.
China also is looking at sending a probe to Mars, using the experience and infrastructure developed with the Chang'e missions.
Shenzhou 7 photo: Gang Lee
Oct 16, 2009
By Frank Morring, Jr. and Bradley Perrett
DAEJEON, South Korea - China is laying the groundwork to land astronauts on the moon, which would follow an ambitious lunar robotic precursor program that also could pave the way for the country's first unmanned probe to Mars.
Dong Nengli of the China Manned Space Engineering Program says his organization - which developed the Shenzhou human spacecraft and is planning an unpiloted orbital rendezvous and docking experiment in 2011 - is already looking beyond the planned deployment of a 60-ton Chinese space station in 2020.
"During the course of the third step of the China manned spaceflight program, we will conduct a manned lunar mission conception study, validate the key technologies and finally pave the way for manned lunar exploration," Dong said at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here Oct. 15.
Chinese officials stress that there has been no government approval for a manned lunar landing, and say China would "welcome" a chance to join the larger international exploration effort that has coalesced around the International Space Station.
Dong and other officials at the congress offered no details about the human-lunar concept study, instead elaborating on plans to continue gaining spaceflight experience by building toward the 60-ton, three-person space station, and to follow up the second Chang'e lunar orbiter set for launch next year with a robotic lander, rover and eventually a sample-return mission.
The first miniature space station - Tiangong 1 - is under construction and still scheduled to go into orbit in 2011 to serve as a docking target for the Shenzhou 8, which will be unmanned. There will be two or three Tiangongs, with one set up as a space laboratory in 2013. Astronauts will use it to practice medium-term stays in space and to do scientific experiments.
Since China's upcoming heavy-lift launcher, the Long March 5, will not go into service until 2014, the laboratory's mass will be limited by the throw weight of the current Long March series, the most powerful of which can lift 13 tons to low orbit.
A concept plan has been finished for the 60-ton space station, which would follow around 2020 (the previous target was "by 2020"). It will be assembled in space from three modules, matched to the capability of the Long March 5.
While China builds up experience with human space flight in low Earth orbit, it will continue sending robotic probes to the moon before bringing the two strands together with the possible manned landing. The next lunar mission will be Chang'e 2, due to be launched next October, following the successful Chang'e 1 mission of 2008-09. Chang'e 2 will orbit the moon at an altitude of 100 kilometers (60 miles), equipped with a camera with a resolution of better than 10 meters.
Chang'e 3 will land, executing phase two of the robotic lunar exploration plan, and deploy a rover. The scientific objectives include investigating the geological structure of the moon, its material composition, internal structure and usable materials, and "to build up an observatory" based on the moon. A later mission "before 2017" will be aimed at bringing lunar samples back to Earth.
China also is looking at sending a probe to Mars, using the experience and infrastructure developed with the Chang'e missions.
Shenzhou 7 photo: Gang Lee
