NASA on Wednesday sent four astronauts on the first manned mission in five decades to orbit the moon, in preparation for the first manned landing on the moon's south pole, scheduled for 2028, as the space race between the United States and China intensifies, Reuters reports.
China has sent robots to the moon so far, but these missions have highlighted the country's rapidly developing space capabilities, which will play a key role in achieving its goal of sending an astronaut to the moon by 2030.
Although China has kept specific details top secret, several important pieces of information about its manned lunar exploration program have made it to the media in recent years. Others were revealed by the Beijing-based aerospace agency.
How is China's program to send taikonauts to the moon?
China is preparing all the necessary equipment to carry out a manned satellite landing. Last August, it tested the lunar lander it hopes to use to take the first Chinese to the moon by 2030.
The lander's ascent and descent systems were fully tested at a site in Hebei Province designed to simulate the lunar surface. The test surface had a special coating to mimic the reflectivity of the lunar soil, and was also covered with rocks and craters.
The Chinese lunar lander, known as “Lanyue” (which means “hug the moon” in Mandarin) will be used to transport astronauts between lunar orbit and the surface of the moon, as well as a living space, power source and data center after landing, according to the China Manned Space Flight Agency.
Other key equipment and vehicles under active testing and development include the Long March 10 heavy rocket that will carry the Mengzhou crewed spacecraft into orbit, as well as special lunar spacesuits, crew rovers, lunar remote sensing satellites and new ground systems to support mission navigation and communications with Earth.
What would come next for China after 2030
Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, previously said a successful manned landing before 2030 would give a major boost to China's plans to build a “core model” for a lunar research station by 2035, which would include a “complete science facility” and “a certain level of development and resource utilization.”
This manned base, which China and Russia want to build together, could include a nuclear reactor on the surface of the moon as a power source. At the moment such a plan might sound like science fiction, but the US has also announced the same ambition.
Wu also said in a 2024 speech that by 2045, the station would be expanded to include a “lunar orbital station as a hub” that could be used for “in-depth development and utilization of resources, as well as verification of relevant technologies and experimental scientific research” to take astronauts to Mars.
China is preparing the ground for robotic satellites
China's manned mission will depend heavily on data collected by its unmanned lunar missions. China in June 2024 became the first country to retrieve lunar samples from the far side of the Moon after sending the “Chang'e-6” spacecraft.
Two other missions, Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8, will be launched before 2030 and, if successful, will give Beijing the opportunity to gather additional information about the area of the moon where it hopes to send an astronaut and eventually establish a permanent human presence.
China's unmanned lunar missions in recent years have allowed the Asian country to become the only nation to retrieve lunar samples from both the near and far side of the moon.
