The people in charge of China's moon exploration program recently
disclosed that if all goes according to plan, China will realize
its first exploration of the moon before 2010. The country hopes to
successfully send astronauts into space within the next few years.
According to a recently published article in the weekly journal
Outlook, China will take three steps in carrying out its
moon landing program: the first step is to launch space
laboratories and flying machines into orbit to search for valuable
resources; the second step is to send space robots to moon; the
third step is to realize a manned moon landing. Although a specific
date for the moon landing is yet to be determined, space scientists
are confident that the time required for China's first manned moon
landing will be significantly less than for the US.
Moon exploration has become an important symbol for a nation's
degree of technological development and a prime target for
countries in the never ending search for business
opportunities.
A
White Paper on China's Space
Activities, issued by Chinese government on November 11, 2000,
initially set the goal for moon exploration and clearly planned to
carry out preliminary deep space research. At the same time, the
white paper also suggested that China should stress its own
characteristics when choosing targets for moon exploration. These
targets will hopefully fill gaps in China's moon exploration
knowledge and contribute to scientific data for humans setting up
base stations on the moon in the future. They also want to avoid
reinventing the proverbial wheel by repeating the work of other
countries.
The first research organization specializing in space robotics, the
National Aerospace High Technology Space Robotic Engineering
Research Center, has been established for the moon landing program.
According to space robotics specialists at the center, space robots
will take on key lunar exploration task before Chinese astronauts
first set foot on the moon, playing an important role in China's
space activities including the servicing of satellites and the
carrying out of scientific experiments in space. China hopes to
make a contribution to the setting up of an international moon base
station in the future. The space robots used for moon surface
exploration are small and agile. They can move nimbly, climb
slopes, get around obstacles, cope with the moon's rough terrain,
withstand huge temperature differences, and survive radiation.
Scientists predict that one of China's most significant
achievements in 21st century will be to set up a "moon city" using
solar energy. The surplus energy will then be transmitted to
storage centers back on earth.
Once China successfully implements a manned moon landing, the
country will become a founding member of the international moon
colonization club. Scientists also predict Mars will be China's
next goal.
(china.org.cn by Wang Qian, October 26, 2002)