China plans to launch an unmanned orbiter to circle the moon
next year but already landing equipment is being designed that
scientists say will scoop up lunar samples for return to the earth
in about 15 years.
A six-wheeled concept vehicle greeted curious visitors to the
Sixth China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, which
opened on Monday in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province.
"Such a lunar vehicle will be for use in the second phase of
China's lunar exploration project," Sun Weigang, director of the
Space Department of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp,
told China Daily.
Sun said it was the debut show of the "lunar rover'" and to
increase its appeal, the company allowed some visitors to remotely
control the model, which was placed on an uneven sand surface to
simulate lunar conditions.
China had earlier said that following completion of a fly-by
mission next year to obtain three-dimensional images of the lunar
surface and analyze its content; a "lunar vehicle" would be landed
onto the Moon to cruise the surface by 2012.
The second phase will be followed by the soft-landing of another
unmanned vehicle to collect samples of lunar soil by 2020,
according to Sun Laiyan, chief of the China National Space
Administration.
"We are testing some key technologies (that involve the second
phase)," Sun Weigang said, adding that the lunar vehicle is being
developed principally by the Chinese Academy of Space
Technology.
The director said his company is displaying at least 110 types
of space technology and applications at the Zhuhai exhibition,
which is China's largest air show held biannually.
In addition to powerful new-generation rockets and satellites,
the company, a major participant in China's manned space program,
is showcasing a 10:1 scale model of a space station for the first
time.
The space station will provide room for astronauts and
scientists to live and work in outer space for extended periods of
time, according to Sun.
In the next five years, the country will conduct research on
short-term manned and long-term unmanned orbiting space
laboratories, according to "China's Space Activities in 2006," a
policy document released earlier this month by the State Council
Information Office.
(China Daily October 31, 2006)