We have been exploring the moon for more than a decade, and on October 24, 2007, the Chang'e-1 lunar probe was successfully launched, and then entered lunar orbit to orbit the moon, and on March 1, 2009, Chang'e-1 completed its mission and hit the predetermined location on the lunar surface.
In the following ten years, we have launched a number of lunar probes to explore the moon, and have completed the three-step plan of "orbiting and falling" the lunar exploration project, among which the Chang'e-5 probe, which returned to Earth in December 2020, is the last step of the three-step plan of the lunar exploration project, and successfully brought back some precious lunar samples from the lunar surface.
Now the Chang'e-6 probe is launching a more challenging mission, which is to go to the far side of the moon, land on the far side of the moon, the South Pole-Aitken Basin, collect samples there, and then take off from the lunar surface back to Earth.
This is a challenge that mankind has not tried before, because humans have collected samples from the front side of the moon before, and the Chang'e-6 mission is the first time that humans have gone to the far side of the moon to collect samples and return to Earth, so the difficulty is still relatively large.
The Chang'e-6 probe, which was launched on May 3, successfully completed the near-moon braking and deceleration on May 8 after several days of flight and entered the orbit around the moon. In fact, it can be said that the Chang'e-6 probe has successfully reached the moon, and then it will continue to fly around the moon, and then constantly adjust the flight trajectory, and then go to the moon to collect samples, and then bring the samples back to Earth.
Due to the complexity and unprecedented challenges of the Chang'e-6 mission, the entire mission cycle is also relatively long, from launch to return to Earth, it takes about 53 days. It will be the most complex and challenging lunar mission the continent will ever undertake.
The Aitken Basin at the south pole of the moon is the largest and oldest impact crater on the moon, located on the far side of the moon, and due to tidal locking, this side is always facing away from the earth, and it is impossible to directly send commands to the probe on the far side of the moon, so the landing of Chang'e-6 on the far side of the moon is much more complicated than the previous spacecraft landing on the front side of the moon.
In order to solve the signal problem, if you want to land on the far side of the moon, you must establish a relay communication service system, that is, launch a relay satellite in orbit near the moon to "forward" the signal.
In March, we launched the Queqiao-2 relay satellite ahead of schedule, which is very powerful and equipped with a 4.2-meter-diameter radio antenna that can help Chang'e-6 on the far side of the moon establish communication with Earth's ground station.
Although mankind has entered the space age for decades, and mankind has successfully reached the moon more than half a century ago, no country has challenged to go to the far side of the moon to take samples and return to the earth, so now the mainland is the first country to challenge the return of samples from the back of the moon to the earth.
When the Chang'e-6 probe was launched, the media around the world paid attention to this feat and gave it a high evaluation. CNN, for example, said the Chang'e-6 mission is the mainland's most complex robotic lunar exploration mission to date, and a key test of the continent's space capabilities.
Previously, we have officially announced the manned lunar landing plan to send Chinese to the moon by 2030. The Guardian reported that if the Chang'e-6 mission is successfully completed, it will greatly enhance Chinese's confidence in achieving a manned landing on the moon by 2030. On this basis, China will continue to promote the follow-up lunar exploration program in the future, including the establishment of a scientific research station on the moon.
Liu Yang set a small goal
Astronaut Liu Yang once mentioned in the program "Lu Jian Interview" that when she returned to Earth from the Shenzhou 14 mission, she set a "small goal" for herself, that is, she will go to space in the near future. When referring to the manned lunar landing program, landing on the moon is not only her "small goal", but also the "small goal" of all astronauts.
From the perspective of time, the continent's first manned landing on the moon is expected to be before 2030, that is, in the next 6 years. At present, relevant rockets, spacecraft, and lunar landers are under development, and the manned spacecraft and manned rocket are expected to have the conditions for their first flight around 2027.
Seeing that the mainland manned space mission is progressing steadily, and the development of related products is also very smooth, and astronaut Liu Yang also said that they have set such a "small goal", and some netizens may begin to look forward to the participation of female astronauts in the first manned lunar mission.
However, it is unlikely that female astronauts Wang Yaping and Liu Yang will participate in the first manned landing on the moon. Because it is expected that it will be another five or six years before the manned lunar landing program is implemented, and the two female astronauts may be over 50 years old by then.
The manned lunar landing, especially the first manned lunar landing mission, will be very challenging, difficult, risky, and more demanding for astronauts. Therefore, Liu Yang also said that age will be a challenge, but the first batch of astronauts are also in their 50s, and they are still insisting on training and still maintaining a very good condition, and these astronauts are her role models.
Although we all expect them to have the opportunity to participate in the manned lunar landing program, from all perspectives, the possibility of the first and second batch of active astronauts participating in the first manned lunar landing program is not very high.
In October 2020, the third batch of reserve astronauts completed the selection, including 7 astronauts, 7 flight engineers, 4 payload experts, these astronauts have the conditions and capabilities to go to space, in the Shenzhou 16 mission, the third batch of active astronauts began to participate in the space station mission, so far, there have been 6 astronauts from the third batch of astronauts into the Chinese space station to carry out flight missions.
Now our space station has entered the stage of application and development, and two batches of astronauts will enter the Chinese space station every year to carry out flight missions, so the third batch of astronauts will participate in the space station missions one after another, and gradually become the main force. In addition, the selection of the fourth batch of reserve astronauts has also been completed, and they will soon be included in the ranks.
In other words, now our astronaut team has joined many young astronauts, not only astronauts, but also flight engineers and payload specialists. As the third group of astronauts began to fly on the mission, the fourth group of astronauts will soon be on the list, and in the future, the third group of astronauts may soon serve as the commander of the mission, bringing new astronauts to space.
In fact, in the selection of the third and fourth batches of astronauts, we took into account the requirements of manned lunar landing, so the selection of these two batches of astronauts actually took into account the space station mission and the manned lunar mission. Compared with the current space station missions, manned lunar missions will have higher requirements for astronauts, and there may be no female astronauts involved.
On the one hand, the newly developed Long March 10 manned rocket, Mengzhou manned spacecraft and lunar lander will be used, and astronauts will need to spend a long time training to master the operation of the Mengzhou spacecraft and lunar lander under normal and emergency flight conditions.
On the other hand, missions on the surface of the moon will also have special requirements for astronauts. The space station flying in low-earth orbit is almost in a state of weightlessness, and the gravity on the surface of the moon is about one-sixth of that of the earth, in the environment of microgravity, how astronauts wear spacesuits to enter and exit the capsule on the lunar surface, if they carry weight on the lunar surface, how to drive the lunar rover on the lunar surface to work, and collect samples, these are quite challenging.