China announces that in 2009 its second unmanned spacecraft will be launched to explore the moon
China's unmanned lunar exploration program is a four-phase plan. First, a probe will be launched to the moon with the aim of photographing and mapping the surface in XNUMXD at high resolution. In the second phase, a spacecraft will be launched with the aim of landing on the surface of the moon, and exploring the surface with the help of a research robot. In the third phase, a spacecraft will be launched whose purpose is to collect soil samples and return them to Earth. In the final stage, a manned flight to the moon is planned.
The launch of the Chang'e 1 spacecraft on October 1, 24 put China in the "return to the moon" race, and it became the fourth country to launch a spacecraft to the moon after the USA, Russia (USSR), the European Union and Japan. Beyond the political implications, this proved China's commitment to lunar exploration.
This week the Chinese announce the continuation of the work and the publication of a new schedule for the next stages. The launch of the second spacecraft, Chang'e 2, is planned for 2, and its purpose, as stated, will be to land on the surface of the moon and explore the landing area with the help of a robotic spacecraft.
It should be noted that the original schedule as defined in 2006 spoke of launching the lunar rover in 2007, landing on the moon in 2012 and returning soil samples in 2017. Beyond that, the Chinese hope that they will be able to launch a manned program towards the moon and place the foot of a Taikonaut (Chinese astronaut) on the lunar soil in 2020, but there is much uncertainty about the manned lunar program.
The multi-year action plan of the Chinese is very consistent and clear, first the engineers want to know the orbital problems and overcome the navigational obstacles. Photographing the moon and mapping its surface in XNUMXD will provide researchers with "attractive" areas for research. After the basic information is obtained and the lessons learned from the first flight are applied, another spacecraft will be launched with an even more ambitious goal - an autopsy on the moon. The engineering challenges will be many times greater in light of the fact that the Chinese are inexperienced in this field. There is a lot to learn from the landing mission, and "the first time" will provide tools for future landings - also on Mars. The lesson on landing a spacecraft on an extraterrestrial body will be used by the engineers to plan the third mission which will include a landing on the moon and also a return to earth - a task that is many times more complex.
There is no doubt that the Chinese are ready to take on difficult challenges, they must plan a mission to launch a spacecraft into space, enter orbit around the moon, land the spacecraft on the surface of the moon, perform experiments on its surface, launch the spacecraft from the moon and reenter orbit, return to Earth and enter orbit around it, And finally try to land safely on Chinese soil.
Capabilities of the type described above are found only in the hands of the USA and Russia. The European Union and Japan continue to develop capabilities of this type, and India has also stated similar intentions, but according to the test results, it seems that the Chinese will be the first to achieve these goals.
