Russia is not the only country in the world betting on the lunar program. China is also hatching serious plans for a natural satellite of the Earth. Recently, a Chinese experimental spacecraft successfully entered a circumlunar orbit. This part of the Chinese lunar program is a rehearsal of a future unmanned mission called Chang'e-5, during which the PRC expects to deliver two kilograms of lunar soil from the Moon to Earth.
On January 11, 2015, the Beijing Aerospace Control Center announced that an experimental spacecraft, the main purpose of which is to test the technology of descent to the lunar surface, has been successfully launched into lunar orbit. The device is located in an elliptical orbit with an apogee of 5300 km and a perigee of 200 km, the period of revolution around the moon is 8 hours. On the night of January 12-13, he had to, after making two decelerations, go to his target low orbit. In this orbit, the device will perform several tests that are necessary for work on the creation of a soft landing technology on the lunar surface.
Zhao Wenbo, deputy director of the Center for Lunar and Space Projects under the State Administration of Defense Science, Technology and Industry of China, noted that after stabilization of circulation, the module will begin to move in its current orbit at an altitude of 200 km above the surface of the Earth satellite. In this orbit, the apparatus will begin to develop technologies that will be needed for the next Chinese lunar mission, which the Chang'e-5 apparatus will have to accomplish. According to Zhao Wenbo, at present, the module launched into lunar orbit has a sufficient supply of energy, the device is in very good condition and under the effective, and most importantly, stable control of technologists on Earth, and is able to successfully complete all the planned experimental tasks.
The new Chinese lunar laboratory was launched on October 24, 2014. On November 1, 2014, the service module successfully detached from her reentry capsule. At the end of November last year, this module was able to reach the L2 Lagrange point, located between the Earth and its natural satellite, where it was until January 4, 2015, performing the tasks outlined earlier. The launch of this unmanned spacecraft was carried out in preparation for the third and final stage of the Chinese program aimed at studying the moon. The modules called "Chang'e-5" and "Chang'e-6", which will deliver samples of lunar soil to Earth, will have to complete the research mission.
At the first stage of its lunar exploration program, Beijing successfully launched the Chang'e-1 and Chang'e-2 probes to the Moon. They were sent to our satellite in 2007 and 2010, respectively. With their help, the Chinese managed to draw up a very detailed three-dimensional map of the moon. At the second stage of the research program, the Celestial Empire launched the Chang'e-3 spacecraft to the Moon, which delivered the first Chinese lunar rover, named Yuytu, to the Moon.
The mission with the delivery of the lunar rover ended in success. Chang'e-3 was able to place a landing module on the moon, as well as a rover. The first Chinese moon rover "Yuytu" (Chinese jade hare) landed on December 14, 2013. After a moonlit night, "Chang'e" and "Yuitu" were able to wake up and continued their work. However, later there was information about problems that arose on the rover, which were associated with the mechanical control of the movements of "Yuytu". By the summer of 2014, communication with the lunar rover was restored, but the device can no longer move. Most likely, the lunar rover was damaged during its initial movement by large stones.
In addition, Chinese specialists are cooperating with LuxSpace from Luxembourg. Together they want to carry out a mission in memory of the founder of this company, Manfred Fuchs, who passed away at the beginning of last year. The mission was named the Manfred Memorial Moon Mission. Within the framework of it, a small spacecraft weighing only 14 kg will be sent into space by the same rocket that will launch the Chang'e-5 there. This device will broadcast a radio signal for radio amateurs, and will also measure radiation using a device presented by iC-Malaga from Spain.
As mentioned above, the third stage of the PRC's lunar research program involves sending the Chang'e-5 probe to the Moon in 2017, and the Chang'e-6 probe in 2020. Both of these devices are sharpened for one very important task - collecting samples of lunar rocks and transporting them to Earth. At the same time, it is reported that the Chang'e-5 apparatus has already been created and, according to Chinese engineers, is able to make a soft landing on the lunar surface. The device will have to collect up to 2 kg of suitable soil on the Moon and deliver it back to our planet. In the event that the Chang'e-5 mission is successful, the PRC will become the third state in the world, after the United States and the USSR, which managed to fulfill this very difficult task.
The landing module from the Chang'e-5 expedition will have to collect rock and soil samples in a special capsule. It is reported that the descent vehicle will be able to independently take off and dock with the orbiter, which will return back to Earth. Among other things, the Chang'e-5 mission should contribute to the verification of thermal protection technology, which is necessary for the safe return of spacecraft moving at very high speeds (more than 40,230 km / h) in the earth's atmosphere. Also, the Chang'e-5 spacecraft will allow Chinese scientists to conduct a series of scientific experiments, during which it will be found out what will happen to plants and bacteria that are exposed to radiation outside of low Earth orbit.
According to a number of Western experts in the field of space, the PRC's space program, and in particular the lunar program, largely follows the path of the Soviet program, only the repetition is carried out much faster. This is due to the fact that Beijing uses ready-made, time-tested solutions. It is worth noting that China carried out the first manned manned flight into space only in 2003, but since then, Chinese engineers and scientists have already been able to launch an orbital station, several sophisticated spaceships, a number of unmanned probes and a lunar rover into space.
At the same time, scientists from other countries, including representatives of NASA, support the PRC in initiatives to study the natural satellite of the Earth.
Scientist Carlton Allen, who works at Johnson Space Center, notes that space initiatives of any country should be encouraged and welcomed. The recent successful launch of a rover to the moon testifies to the high level of skill of engineers, technicians and scientists, as well as planners from the PRC, who have dedicated their lives to this important and difficult goal. Delivering new samples of lunar rocks to Earth will become even more difficult, which will clearly indicate the maturity of the Chinese space program, Carlton Allen said.
To date, scientists have only those samples of lunar rocks that were collected during the six American Apollo missions and three probe landings as part of the USSR's lunar program. These reserves are not enough to have a complete picture of the moon. Perhaps it is the materials collected by Chinese probes, which will no doubt be studied in the best laboratories and the best scientists, will help mankind look at the Moon and its environment from a new angle.
Russia is also showing interest in the Moon today and is ready to cooperate with China in this area and in the field of space exploration. Russia today stands for the joint exploration of the Moon and Mars, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin spoke about this in mid-2014. According to a prominent Russian official, Moscow and Beijing should move "hand in hand" in the development of manned space exploration, as well as the exploration of outer space. Also, according to Rogozin, Russia and China could create an independent radio component base and joint spacecraft, cooperate in the field of communication and cartography.
At the same time, Dmitry Rogozin noted that a very deep reform of the rocket and space industry is currently being carried out in the Russian Federation, our country is trying to catch up with the resulting lag behind technological progress. Against this background, the timing of the implementation of the Russian lunar program is constantly moving. If earlier the Luna-Resurs and Luna-Glob probes were supposed to go to our satellite already in 2015, now it is reported that the Luna-25 Luna-Glob apparatus will go to our natural satellite only in 2019. The purpose of this mission will be to test the universal landing platform. The Luna-Glob spacecraft will carry up to 20 kg of various scientific loads and will land on the moon in the Boguslavsky crater.
Then the Luna-26 "Luna-Resource" apparatus will go to the Moon. This orbital probe will be launched in 2021. Its task will be to study the chemical composition of the regolith, provide communication and map the lunar surface. In 2023, the Luna-27 mission will go to the Moon. It will be a heavy landing station that will land in the South Pole region. The purpose of this mission will be to study water ice and regolith samples in the landing area. The scientific load of the apparatus will be a European drilling rig (up to 2 meters), a manipulator arm and a mini-lunar rover.
Finally, in 2025, the Russian station Luna-28 "Luna-Grunt" will fly to a natural satellite of the Earth. It will be a return rocket station that will be able to deliver lunar ice samples to our planet. The scientific workload of this station will also include a full-fledged lunar rover.
