China's lunar exploration program has taken a significant step forward with the launch of its moon landing mission, as recently announced by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).
The nation is actively developing rockets, spacecraft, and lunar landers, aiming to equip itself for landing astronauts on the moon by the year 2030. This ambitious undertaking demonstrates China's commitment to space exploration and its determination to achieve remarkable milestones in the realm of lunar exploration.
MOON LANDING PLAN
According to CMSA, China plans to launch two carrier rockets to send a lunar lander and a manned spacecraft to a lunar orbit, respectively. The spacecraft and lunar lander will rendezvous and dock with each other in the orbit, and thereafter, astronauts will enter the lander.
As the lunar lander descends and arrives at the preset area on the lunar surface, astronauts will carry out scientific exploration and collect samples.
After completing the planned tasks, astronauts will return to the lander, which will lift them back to the lunar orbit to dock with their spacecraft.
In the final step, the spacecraft will send astronauts back to Earth with lunar samples.
LONG MARCH-10 ROCKET
The new carrier rocket Long March-10 is developed by the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).
The Long March-10 is mainly developed for the purpose of sending spacecraft and moon landers into the Earth-moon transfer orbit, said Rong Yi, a rocket expert with the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.
The rocket uses liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants. It has a total length of about 92 meters, a takeoff weight of about 2,187 tonnes, a takeoff thrust of about 2,678 tonnes, and a carrying capacity of no less than 27 tonnes for the Earth-moon transfer orbit.
A non-booster configuration of the new rocket is capable of conducting missions for transporting astronauts and cargo to the space station. Its total length is about 67 meters, the takeoff weight is about 740 tonnes, the takeoff thrust is about 892 tonnes, and the low-Earth orbit carrying capacity is no less than 14 tonnes.
The Long March-10 serves as strategic support for China for landing astronauts on the moon before 2030, and it is expected to start preparations for its maiden flight in 2027, Rong told Xinhua in a recent interview.
NEW SPACECRAFT
The trial version of China's new-generation manned spacecraft was successfully sent into space in May 2020 by a Long March-5B carrier rocket and returned to Earth.
The new spacecraft adopts a modular design, consisting of an escape tower, a return capsule and a service module. It can meet the needs of near-earth and deep-space missions.
According to an expert with the China Academy of Space Technology under the CASC, the developer of the spacecraft, it has an orbit mass of about 26 tonnes and can carry three astronauts. It will mainly be used to send astronauts to orbit around the moon and return to Earth.
Unlike the three-module Shenzhou spacecraft, the new spacecraft has two parts. One is the return capsule, which is the command center of the whole spacecraft and the living quarter for the astronauts. The other is the service module, which is the energy and power center. The two-module structure makes the spacecraft flexible with more reusable parts.
Based on the new spacecraft, China is also advancing the development of near-earth spacecraft designed to accommodate four to seven crew members, envisioning a promising future for space tourism in the country.
LANDER AND ROVER
The lunar lander weighs about 26 tonnes and consists of a lunar landing module and propelling module. It can bring astronauts down from the lunar orbit to land on the moon and send them back to the lunar orbit. The lunar lander is also able to conduct autonomous flight.
After the lunar lander's arrival on the moon, astronauts will work on the lunar surface by using a lunar rover, which weighs about 200 kg and can carry two passengers. Astronauts will drive it to carry out lunar sampling and other lunar surface experiments within a range of 10 km.
The lunar lander will also carry scientific payloads for exploration activities focusing on lunar geology and lunar physics, observation, space life sciences, as well as deep drilling on the lunar surface and utilization of lunar resources.
In addition to the lunar rover, China also plans to develop a lunar mobile laboratory with large-scale mobile capability, which can realize long-term unmanned autonomous activities on the lunar surface and support astronauts to stay for a short time.