Chinese Lunar Exploration Program

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Insignia of the program
Insignia of the program

Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) (Chinese: 中国探月; pinyin: Zhōngguó Tànyuè) is a program of unmanned and manned missions to the Moon announced by China.

The first spacecraft of the program, Chang'e 1, a lunar orbiter is initially scheduled to be launched between April 17 and April 19, 2007,[1] , but delayed to September in March 2007.[2] with further launches in 2008 or 2009 according to academician and Chief Designer of Chinese rockets Long Lehao.[3]

The full program consists of:

Chang'e lunar orbiters, rovers and soil return spacecraft
Adapted LM-3A launch vehicle
Launch Site System (Xichang Satellite Launch Center)
TT&C System (Deep Space Tracking Network, with radio antennas of 50m in Beijing, 40m in Kunming, Shanghai and Ürümqi, forming a 3000 km VLBI antenna.[4][5])
Ground Application System (system responsible for downlink data reception)

Ouyang Ziyuan, one of the most prominent Chinese experts in geological research on underground nuclear testing and extraterrestrial materials, was naturally the first to advocate not only the exploitation of the known huge lunar reserves of metals such as iron, but also the mining of lunar helium-3 as an ideal fuel for nuclear fusion power plants. He is now in charge of the Chang'e program. He is known to be one of the strongest supporters of the Chinese manned lunar exploration program.

Contents

[edit] Program structure

According to the plan, the program will go through three milestones:

  1. "Orbiting" (Chang'e 1 in 2007)
  2. "Landing" (Chang'e 2 in 2008-2009)
  3. "Returning" (Chang'e 3 in 2012-2017)

[edit] Orbiting (Chang’e 1)

Chang'e 1, a lunar orbiting spacecraft, is launched.

According to the schedule, detailed program design of the first milestone was completed by September 2004. Research and development of a prototype probe and relevant testing of the probe was finished before the end of 2005. Design, manufacture, general assembly, test and ground experiments of the lunar orbiter was finished before December 2006. In April 2007 the Chang'e 1 is scheduled to launch.

[edit] Landing (Chang’e 2)

A spacecraft (Chang’e 2) will be launched to deploy a lunar lander for surface exploration in a limited area on the moon.

The second phase should include at least two lunar rovers.[6]

[edit] Returning (Chang’e 3)

On the basis of the lander mission, a lunar sample return mission (Chang’e 3)will be implemented.

[edit] Future development

Currently, the second and third phases of the program are being planned. Both will require the availability of the heavy-lift Long March 5 (CZ-5) booster. It is said that the second phase of the program would include the launch of at least two landers in 2008 or 2009,[7] that will carry small remote-controlled Moon rovers to conduct an inspection of the moon's surface and probe the moon's resources. It would also provide data to determine the selection of a moon base. However, Huang Chunping, the former head of rocket science at China's manned space program, told Xinhua news agency in March 2007 that the Long March 5 (CZ-5) rocket would be ready for launch 'in seven or eight years,' which would imply delayed implementation of the next phases in the Chang'e program.

On December 14, 2005, many aspects of the above information were confirmed, when it was reported "an effort to launch lunar orbiting satellites will be supplanted in 2007 by a program aimed at accomplishing an unmanned lunar landing. A program to return unmanned space vehicles from the moon will begin in 2012 and last for five years, until the manned program gets underway" in 2017.[8]

A six-wheeled lunar vehicle due to be launched in 2012 has been under development since 2002 at the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute where a specialized testing laboratory has been outfitted to replicate the lunar surface. The 1.5-meter high, 200-kilogram rover is designed to transmit video in real time, dig and analyze soil samples. In photographs, the rover appeared similar to NASA's unmanned Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers. Unlike the rechargeable lithium ion batteries used by those rovers, the Chinese model will eventually run on a nuclear power source to ensure a constant energy supply. With an average speed of 100 m/h, it can negotiate inclines and has automatic sensors to prevent it from crashing into other objects.

Rival rovers are being developed by similar institutes in Beijing and elsewhere.

[edit] Manned missions

A fourth phase might be a manned mission, as suggested by the official Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) (Chinese: 中国探月; pinyin: Zhōngguó Tànyuè) insignia, a Chinese calligraphy of the word 月 (pinyin: yuè) meaning "Moon" with a crescent Moon shape, that clearly shows two footprints at the center.

It is highly expected that the fourth manned phase will start with a Circumlunar Shenzhou flight, since the Shenzhou spacecraft has been designed with a lunar capable aerodynamics, as demonstrated by the similar Soyuz spacecraft during the L1 manned lunar program of the 1960s.[9]

[edit] Russian cooperation

Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian Space Agency revealed in September 2006 in RIA Novosti that the two countries were indeed working on the Moon as partners, and that the Russian-Chinese space sub-commission's priority was to conclude a joint Moon exploration agreement by the end of that year.[10]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.newsmth.net/bbscon.php?board=Aero&id=97395
  2. ^ http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2007-03-15/015911413335s.shtml
  3. ^ http://news.tom.com/2006-04-17/000N/30701688.html
  4. ^ http://www.yndaily.com/html/20060317/news_88_1052407.html
  5. ^ http://tech.enorth.com.cn/system/2006/08/19/001388423.shtml
  6. ^ http://www.cast.ac.cn/CastCn/Show.asp?ArticleID=15124
  7. ^ Chinese scientists prepare for mission to the moon. XINHUA Online (July 26, 2006). Retrieved on September 14, 2006.
  8. ^ http://www.cio-today.com/news/China-To-Send-People-to-Moon/story.xhtml?story_id=032001DRNFR4
  9. ^ http://www.astronautix.com/craft/shelunar.htm
  10. ^ Russia, China could sign Moon exploration pact in 2006. RIA Novosti (September 11, 2006). Retrieved on September 14, 2006.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Chinese space program - China National Space Administration (CNSA)
Active Shenzhou - Chinese Space Station - Space laboratory - Circumlunar Shenzhou - Chinese Lunar Exploration Program - Chinese Earth Observation Program
In Development Shenzhou Cargo - Chinese Mars exploration program - Deep space exploration
Cancelled Chinese Space Shuttle
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