We are considering cooperation with China to build instruments for robotic spacecraft
British scientists want to play a central role in China's plan to explore the moon using unmanned spacecraft. British space scientists visited China a few months ago and discussed the construction of scientific instruments for the second stage of the Chinese lunar mission.
The powerhouse, which has become only the third country with the ability to send humans into space, hopes to build a space station within five years and eventually - to also send astronauts to the moon. John Zarnecki, Professor of Space Sciences at the Open University in Milton Keynes, is one of a team of academics, senior British space industry executives and scientists who visited China.
The Chinese themselves put humans in space, they have fantastic capabilities, but they are still new in the field." Zarenetsky told the BBC. "Certainly in the field of space science they are really looking to work together with us. We are very good at building scientific instruments and we like to take advantage of opportunities to build such instruments." said.
National pride
Beijing attaches great importance to the space projects, and sees them as a source of national pride and international prestige. Its space program has grown tremendously since the current phase began in 1992, and now employs tens of thousands of people. However, China lacks specializations in a number of fields, including space sciences, and is interested in cooperating with Europe and other interested parties. "I believe that they are looking for significant collaborations," said Prof. Zarantsky.
"They have good technology themselves but they admit that they are still new in the field of space science, so they will not have the ability to build devices."
The first unmanned lunar mission, known as Shenzhe 1, is expected to be launched in 2007. If the mission is successful, the next spacecraft (Shenzhe 2) will be ambitious and will also include a lander that will make a soft landing on the moon and may even include an all-terrain vehicle," he said. Zaranetsky.
"Talks have begun about Britain cooperating with China in building these devices." said.
technology transfer
China has already begun building ties with the European Space Agency (ESA) in a number of space projects, including the Galileo positioning satellite network, and Earth observation satellites. Steven Briggs, head of the Observatory project, said that China is seeking to expand its share but technology transfer is a sensitive issue. "We are cautious about getting involved with them regarding devices such as navigation systems and space propulsion systems," he said. However, the scientific applications are not problematic and we can cooperate with them because they also have a lot to offer us."
Shenzhen plan
The program is named after the Chinese goddess of the moon and includes four stages:
Step 1: Launch an orbiter around the moon
Step 2: Landing instruments to examine the surface
Step 3: Collecting samples, among other things, also using an all-terrain vehicle and bringing them to Earth,
Step 4: Landing astronauts on the moon.
