7.20 Human Moon Day -
Review China's "romantic" lunar exploration journey
"Human Moon Day" is celebrated on July 20 every year to commemorate the success of the first human landing on the moon on July 20, 1969. (American astronaut Armstrong landed on the moon). Looking back on China's lunar exploration process, chasing dreams for nine days, the exploration will never stop!
Lunar exploration project was approved
In 2004, China officially launched the lunar exploration project and named it "Chang'e Project". The Chang'e project is divided into three stages: "unmanned lunar exploration", "manned lunar landing" and "establishment of a lunar base". In February 2006, the State Council promulgated the Outline of the National Medium- and Long-term Science and Technology Development Plan (2006-2020), which clearly listed "manned spaceflight and lunar exploration projects" as one of the sixteen major national science and technology projects.
Chang'e-1
Chang'e-1 is the first artificial moon-orbiting satellite in China's lunar exploration program, named after the ancient Chinese mythological figure Chang'e.
On October 24, 2007, Chang'e-1 was launched at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, and on March 1, 2009, Chang'e-1 completed its mission and hit a predetermined location on the lunar surface.
The success of the Chang'e-1 satellite's first lunar exploration has set a third milestone in China's aerospace, broken through a large number of core technologies and key technologies with independent intellectual property rights, and made China one of the few countries in the world with deep space exploration capabilities.
Chang'e-2
Chang'e-2, the second artificial moon-orbiting satellite in China's lunar exploration program, is also the technical pilot star of the second phase of China's lunar exploration project, originally the backup star of Chang'e-1, named after the ancient Chinese mythological figure Chang'e.
The complete success of the Chang'e-2 mission marks That China has made a breakthrough in the field of deep space exploration and mastered a large number of new core technologies and key technologies with independent intellectual property rights, which has laid a solid technical foundation for the subsequent implementation of the "landing" and "return" of the second phase of the lunar exploration project and the next step of deep space exploration such as Mars, and has taken another important step in the process of China's transition from a space power to a space power.
Chang'e 3
Chang'e-3, a lunar probe launched in the second phase of China's lunar exploration project, consists of a lander and a rover (the "Jade Rabbit" lunar rover).
Chang'e-3 achieved the first soft landing and inspection of China's extraterrestrial objects, and is one of the most technologically complex and difficult space activities in China's aerospace field.
Lunar rover "Jade Rabbit"
Yutu is China's first lunar rover, which, together with the lander, forms the Chang'e-3 probe. The Yutu lunar rover is designed to have a mass of 140 kilograms and solar energy, and can withstand extreme environments such as vacuum on the lunar surface, strong radiation, and the extreme temperature of minus 180 degrees Celsius to 150 degrees Celsius above zero.
The Yutu is the first footprint China has left on the moon, which is of far-reaching significance. It worked on the moon for a total of 972 days.
Relay Star "Queqiao"
Queqiao, the relay satellite of the Chang'e-4 lunar probe, is China's first and the world's first dedicated relay communication satellite outside the Earth's orbit, and was launched by the Long March 4 C carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on May 21, 2018. As a ground-moon communication and data transit station, "Queqiao" can transmit the scientific data sent by the Chang'e-4 probe landing on the back of the lunar surface back to the earth in real time, which has great scientific and engineering significance and is also another powerful attempt for human beings to explore the universe.
Chang'e 4
Chang'e-4 is a lunar probe launched in the second phase of China's lunar exploration project, and is also the first probe for mankind to land on the far side of the moon; it has achieved the first soft landing and inspection survey on the far side of the moon, which is of great significance and far-reaching influence.
Chang'e 5
Chang'e 5, organized and developed by the China National Space Administration, is China's first lunar probe to implement unmanned lunar surface sampling and return, and is the final battle for China's lunar exploration project.
The Chang'e-5 mission is the sixth mission of China's lunar exploration project and one of the most complex and difficult missions in China's spaceflight (as of December 2020), achieving China's first unmanned lunar sample return, supporting scientific research such as lunar genesis and evolutionary history.
Dream for nine days, and the exploration will never stop
Image source: CCTV News