Following the successful return of moon rocks by its Chang’e 5 robotic probe, China is preparing for missions that could set the stage for an eventual lunar base to host human explorers, a top space program official said yesterday.
China’s next three lunar missions are on track, along with programs for returning samples from Mars, and exploring asteroids and Jupiter, China Lunar Exploration Program deputy chief commander Wu Yanhua (吳艷華) said.
“Exploring the truth of the universe is just the beginning,” Wu told a news conference held hours after a capsule parachuted to a landing in Inner Mongolia carrying the first lunar samples to be brought to Earth in more than 40 years.
Photo: AFP
The program has made three landings on the moon, including on its less explored far side.
Chang’e 6, scheduled for a 2023 launch, is to collect more samples from the lunar south pole, while the following two are to conduct detailed surveys and test technologies needed for the construction of a science base on the moon.
No dates have been given for Chang’e 7 and 8, or for a crewed mission to the moon that China has said is in the works, or for the construction of a lunar base.
“China is willing to keep on contributing to the world and enhancing human well-being with Chinese space solutions,” Wu said.
The capsule of the Chang’e 5 probe and its cargo of samples were flown to the space program’s Beijing campus after landing just before 2am yesterday.
The mission achieved firsts for China’s lunar exploration program in collecting samples, launching a vehicle from the moon’s surface and docking it with the capsule to transfer the samples for their voyage to Earth, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.
“As our nation’s most complex and technically groundbreaking space mission, Chang’e 5 has achieved multiple technical breakthroughs ... and represents a landmark achievement,” it said.
China in 2003 became just the third country to send an astronaut into orbit on its own after the Soviet Union and the US, and its space program has proceeded along a steady, cautious track, largely avoiding the fatalities and launch failures that marred the US-Soviet space race of the 1960s.
Wu said the latest flight featured collaboration with the European Space Agency, along with Argentina, Namibia, Pakistan and other nations with which Chinese cooperates on monitoring and communicating with its spacecraft.
China in the future will “encourage more scientists around the world to participate to obtain more scientific results,” Wu said.
One exception remains the US. Amid concerns over the Chinese space program’s secrecy and close military connections, US law forbids cooperation between NASA and the CNSA unless the US Congress gives its approval.
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