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The 2020 China Space Conference opens in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province, on September 18, 2020. Photo by Zhao Lei / China Daily / Asia News Network
BEIJING – China is determined to get its astronauts to the moon and establish a science station there, according to a project leader.
Zhou Yanfei, deputy chief designer of China’s manned space program, said on Friday that China wants to use manned lunar missions to conduct scientific studies and technology demonstrations, explore ways to develop lunar resources and strengthen the nation’s space capabilities.
“A new wave of lunar explorations has been emerging in the world, with participants aiming to undertake sustainable missions to deepen knowledge of the moon and exploit resources there,” he said in a report presented at the 2020 China Space Conference in Fuzhou, Fujian province. “Unlike other nations, China must depend on its own science and technology to achieve our goals.”
The country can get its astronauts to the moon independently because it has the technologies, a well-trained group of innovative professionals, and highly efficient research and management systems, Zhou said.
Planners, designers and engineers have conducted feasibility research and discussed all aspects of the manned lunar program.
Chinese researchers will have to overcome a long list of technical and engineering difficulties, Zhou said.
“Our existing carrier rockets cannot perform moon landing missions because they are not powerful enough. Shenzhou series manned spacecraft are not suitable for lunar expeditions. We don’t have a lunar landing capsule, ”he said.
“Our ground support system was designed for operations in low Earth orbit rather than on the lunar surface. Also, Chinese astronauts have no experience working on an extraterrestrial body. “
The first step is to produce a powerful launch vehicle.
Zhou said the researchers initiated two approaches: making a new heavy-lift rocket capable of deploying more than 35 metric tons of payload in a lunar transfer orbit, or modifying the next-generation rocket designed to carry astronauts, which is in development. .
Researchers prefer the latter approach because it would be easier to design and manufacture and be operational sooner.
It would be used to transport astronauts and components into a lunar transfer orbit to assemble a landing capsule, which will then carry astronauts to the moon, according to Zhou.
The new rocket is being designed at the Chinese Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. Its main body will be 87 meters high, with a diameter of 5 meters, which would make it almost twice as tall as Long March 5, currently the largest of China’s rockets.
The gigantic ship will have a takeoff weight of about 2,200 metric tons, almost triple that of the Long March 5.
That will allow the rocket to put a 25-ton spacecraft on a trajectory to take it to the moon, the designers said.
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