Yongpeng Sun-Tastaufen
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China’s lunar program is setting ambitious goals, including exploring both lunar poles by 2030 and, further in the future, sending manned missions to the moon and establishing a permanent base there. The news comes as leaders of the US and Chinese space agencies said they were open to cooperation on research and missions.
Li Guoping, director of the Department of System Engineering of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said at the World Conference on Science Literacy 2018 in Beijing last month that China is planning four upcoming lunar exploration missions, China Daily reported.
The moon orbits the Earth in a tidally locked orbit: the same side always faces our planet, meaning we never get to see the far side, which takes the brunt of impacts by interstellar objects that might hit us.
Named after Chang'e, the goddess of the moon in ancient Chinese mythology, China's lunar exploration program was launched in 2003, and it has sent five robotic rovers to the moon since 2007.
CNSA laid the groundwork (or spacework?) for the Chang'e-4 mission this past May when it launched the Quequiao satellite to the the Earth-moon system's L-2 Lagrangian point, a uniquely gravitationally stable location on the far side of the moon. The satellite will serve as a communications relay supporting future Chinese moon missions, Sputnik reported.
Three subsequent missions will do the same for the two lunar polar regions, exploring them and returning samples to Earth, Li noted. After that, CNSA plans on sending taikonauts (those are Chinese astronauts, folks) to the moon and eventually setting up a scientific research station there.
The last time humans were on the moon was December 14, 1972, when the US Apollo 17 mission departed from a three-day stay on the surface of Earth's only natural satellite.
By 2030, CNSA's ultra-powerful Long March-9 rocket is expected to be in service, lifting 140 tons of cargo into low-Earth orbit — more than any other rocket in use or even in development by any nation or company. Xinhua News Agency reported earlier this year on the rocket's development, which Long Lehao, a senior official at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, indicated will be necessary to support manned lunar landings, deep space exploration and construction of a space-based solar power plant.
more at https://sputniknews.com/science/201810011068500311-China-Probes-Manned-Missions-Base-Moon/
Li Guoping, director of the Department of System Engineering of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said at the World Conference on Science Literacy 2018 in Beijing last month that China is planning four upcoming lunar exploration missions, China Daily reported.
The moon orbits the Earth in a tidally locked orbit: the same side always faces our planet, meaning we never get to see the far side, which takes the brunt of impacts by interstellar objects that might hit us.
Named after Chang'e, the goddess of the moon in ancient Chinese mythology, China's lunar exploration program was launched in 2003, and it has sent five robotic rovers to the moon since 2007.
CNSA laid the groundwork (or spacework?) for the Chang'e-4 mission this past May when it launched the Quequiao satellite to the the Earth-moon system's L-2 Lagrangian point, a uniquely gravitationally stable location on the far side of the moon. The satellite will serve as a communications relay supporting future Chinese moon missions, Sputnik reported.
Three subsequent missions will do the same for the two lunar polar regions, exploring them and returning samples to Earth, Li noted. After that, CNSA plans on sending taikonauts (those are Chinese astronauts, folks) to the moon and eventually setting up a scientific research station there.
The last time humans were on the moon was December 14, 1972, when the US Apollo 17 mission departed from a three-day stay on the surface of Earth's only natural satellite.
By 2030, CNSA's ultra-powerful Long March-9 rocket is expected to be in service, lifting 140 tons of cargo into low-Earth orbit — more than any other rocket in use or even in development by any nation or company. Xinhua News Agency reported earlier this year on the rocket's development, which Long Lehao, a senior official at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, indicated will be necessary to support manned lunar landings, deep space exploration and construction of a space-based solar power plant.
more at https://sputniknews.com/science/201810011068500311-China-Probes-Manned-Missions-Base-Moon/