Chang'e sweeps the moon, the Big Dipper guides the way, Zhu Rong explores the fire, Xihe day by day, heaven and the stars... In recent years, the mainland has accelerated the pace of building a space power and made a series of brilliant achievements. Looking ahead, what major projects will be implemented by Continental Aerospace? During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, what will be the major actions of lunar and deep space exploration?
Please see the exclusive "secret" of Wu Weiren, member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, chief designer of the lunar exploration project, and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering!
The fourth phase of the lunar exploration project will also carry out three missions
Wu Weiren revealed that after years of demonstration, the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project has been officially approved at the end of 2021 and entered the implementation stage. "The main goal of the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project is to carry out scientific exploration of the lunar south pole and establish the basic type of lunar scientific research station. It will be implemented in three missions, namely Chang'e 6, Chang'e 7 and Chang'e 8, which are scheduled to be completed by 2030. At present, the research and development work is progressing smoothly. ”
Why choose the lunar south pole region? Wu Weiren said that this is because the north and south poles of the moon are similar to the north and south poles of the earth, and there is a phenomenon of polar day or polar night. Choosing the South Pole as the landing site, the preliminary estimate will be more than 180 days of polar daylight, which can overcome the adverse effects of the far side of the moon and ensure long-term scientific exploration work.
In addition, scientists are looking forward to detecting water ice at the south pole of the moon. "The fourth phase of the lunar exploration project also developed a leaper, and after landing, the leaper was used to fly from the landing site to the direction of the lunar pit where there may be water ice, to carry out surveys and collect samples." Wu Weiren said that landing at the south pole of the moon, the range of landing zones available is only 1/10 of the landing zone at the middle and low latitudes, and the accuracy of landing is higher.
The Yutu-2 rover panoramic camera imaged the Chang'e-4 lander. Courtesy of China National Space Administration
According to reports, the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project has planned 4 missions, the first mission is the "Chang'e 4" that has been successfully implemented, and there are 3 follow-up missions, namely "Chang'e 6", "Chang'e 7" and "Chang'e 8". Every mission is worth looking forward to:
"Chang'e 6" mainly to the high-value areas of the moon for sampling and return, followed by new lunar soil samples back to the earth;
Chang'e 7 mainly conducts scientific exploration of the lunar polar region, especially the distribution of water ice on the moon;
"Chang'e-8" will work in collaboration with "Chang'e-7" to mainly carry out experimental verification and long-term scientific exploration of lunar resource development and utilization technology, conduct large-scale, full-scale, long-period observations of the earth, and verify the key technologies for the follow-up of scientific research stations. It is understood that "Chang'e 6" and "Chang'e 7" are expected to carry out launch missions around 2025.
There will also be tasks such as "Tianwen No. 2", "Tianwen No. 3" and "Tianwen No. 4"
The mainland's first Mars exploration mission "Tianwen-1" was successfully implemented last year, and what are the follow-up planetary exploration plans?
Wu Weiren revealed that there will be follow-up tasks such as "Tianwen No. 2", "Tianwen No. 3" and "Tianwen No. 4" to continue to be implemented. In terms of planetary exploration, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the mainland will launch asteroid probes. Carry out near-Earth asteroid sampling and main-belt comet exploration, and carry out key technologies such as Mars sample return and Jupiter detection. In addition, the mainland will also conduct in-depth demonstration of major project implementation plans such as marginal exploration of the solar system.
In June 2021, the China National Space Administration held the unveiling ceremony of the first batch of scientific image maps of the Tianwen-1 probe landing on Mars in Beijing, and announced the panoramic view of the landing site, the topography of Mars, the "China Imprint" and the "Group Photo of the Patrol" taken by the Zhurong rover. Courtesy of China National Space Administration
Initiated the construction of a deep space exploration laboratory
As a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, most of Wu Weiren's proposals in recent years have focused on space security and deep space exploration, and have successively put forward proposals such as attaching importance to space security and strengthening deep space exploration. "This year, I am more concerned about two topics, one is to strengthen the construction of the measurement system of the national defense science and technology industry; the other is to increase support for the national strategic scientific and technological forces in the field of deep space exploration." Wu Weiren introduced that deep space exploration is the frontier field of science and technology, and it is urgent to gather the strength of all parties to jointly carry out strategic, forward-looking and basic research. The China National Space Administration, Anhui Province and the University of Science and Technology of China have jointly initiated the construction of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (Tiandu Laboratory) a few days ago, facing the frontier of aerospace science and technology in the world and the strategic needs of space powers, focusing on building a new type of research and development institution for the integration of science, technology and engineering, and striving to become an important talent center and innovation highland with international influence in the field of deep space exploration.
Source: People's Daily Economic and Social WeChat public account