China plans to start building a lunar base in about five years, starting with bricks made of moon soil, scientists with ties to the project told the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
Ding Lieyun (丁烈雲), a top scientist at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, told local media that the first brick would be made from moon soil during the Chang’e 8 mission around 2028.
NUCLEAR POWER
China has previously said its lunar base would likely be powered by nuclear energy, and would include a lander, hopper, orbiter and rover, all of which would be constructed by the Chang’e 6, 7 and 8 missions.
It was not immediately clear in the interview if the entire base would be built with lunar soil.
“Eventually, building habitation beyond the Earth is essential not only for all humanity’s quest for space exploration, but also for China’s strategic needs as a space power,” Ding told the China Science Daily in a separate interview, according to the SCMP.
The comments came as China held its first major conference in Wuhan to discuss building a manned lunar base, the report said.
China has already sent probes to the moon, built its own space station and is also setting its sights on Mars, as it vies with the US in particular to be the first to gain access to minerals and other resources found away from Earth.
The moon is believed to contain a source of waste-free nuclear energy that could meet global energy demands for 250 years, but experts fear nations might clash over the extraction of potentially hundreds of billions of US dollars of resources.
CHANG’E MISSIONS
Yu Dengyun (于登雲), from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, provided an updated timeline for the next three Chang’e missions, the SCMP reported.
The plans are as follows: Chang’e 6 would launch in 2025 to collect samples from the far side of the moon, Chang’e 7 would blast off the following year to search for water-ice, while Chang’e 8 should land about two years after that.
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