Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Apollo 15 image captures landing locale of China’s Chang’e-5 Moon lander – the Mons Rümker region in the northern part of Oceanus Procellarum.
Credit: NASA

China space officials are detailing their upcoming set of robotic lunar exploration missions at the Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX) 2017 meeting being held this week in Beijing.

To be launched this November, the Chang’e-5 Moon lander is slated to touch down within the Mons Rümker region in the northern part of Oceanus Procellarum.

Mons Rümker features a cluster of volcanic domes.

Liu Jizhong, director of China Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center of China National Space Administration identified the Chang’e-5 landing and sampling site.

Far side lander

In addition, new details of China’s Chang’e-4 far side lander to be launched in 2018 were detailed by Liu.

“For the first time, it [the Chang’e-4 probe] will carry scientific payload to the Moon’s surface, a micro ecosphere developed under lead of the Chongqing University,” Liu told CCTV in an interview.

Chang’e-4 will also be outfitted with two micro satellites developed by the Harbin Institute of Technology and one laser corner reflector developed by the Zhongshan (Dr. Sun Yat-sen) University.

The lunar far side as imaged by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter using its LROC Wide Angle Camera.
Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

Shielded science

The Moon’s far side is shielded from the buzz and crackle of electromagnetic interference from the Earth. Thus, it provides an ideal field for studies of low-frequency radio and research of the space environment and solar bursts.

“We will also try to use the clean electromagnetic environment of the Moon’s far back side to carry out the world’s first low-frequency radio detection, with some breakthrough outcome anticipated,” Liu said.

For Earth-far side communications, China is readying a relay satellite to be positioned in the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point L2.