Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: CGTN/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab

China is pressing forward on a major space drive into deep space, highlighted on Monday by Chinese President Xi Jinping asking personnel in China’s space industry to continue to work hard and accelerate progress in space endeavors.

Xi met with space scientists and engineers Monday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, meeting and greeting those that participated in the research and development of the far side lunar landing mission, the Chang’e-6 snag, grab, and return to Earth Moon endeavor.

Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Research station update

Meanwhile, Wu Weiren, chief designer of China’s Lunar Exploration Program told China Central Television (CCTV) that agreements with over 10 countries and nearly 30 international research institutions, have been inked to put in place an International Lunar Research Station, the ILRS.

“We hope to work with 500 foreign scientific research institutions and 5,000 foreign scientific research personnel to build our International Lunar Research Station,” Wu told CCTV.

China’s Chang’e-8 lunar lander, a bridge build to the International Lunar Research Station.
Image credit: CNSA

Permanent shadow zone

In pointing to China’s upcoming Chang’e-7 lunar lander mission to the Moon’s south pole, Wu said that there’s need to leap into the permanent shadow zone to find direct evidence of water. “We will also launch Chang’e-8, the main purpose of which will be to investigate what resources are at the south pole of the Moon, and other resource development,” he said.

As far as the intent of the ILRS, this scientific research station will combine orbital and lunar surface stations, plus ground facilities, to carry out large scientific projects.

“This is being done so that work can continue for a long time with or without people at the Moon’s south pole,” Wu said. “It will facilitate scientific exploration and resource development.”

Artist’s view of International Lunar Research Station to be completed by 2035. Credit: CNSA

Four must-haves

Wu also pointed out that, for the International Lunar Research Station to work, there are four must-haves: tools, energy, communication and shelter.

“We’ve started to prepare the first bricks. We could use sunlight and draw on local resources. It’s possible with 3D printing that such bricks could be used to build walls, houses and roads,” Wu told CCTV. “We hope in the future, the lunar research station will be a hub that prepares us for more distant celestial bodies, such as for Mars exploration.”

By 2030, China is aiming to realize a crewed lunar landing. By 2035, the country has stated it wants to establish the core structure of an international lunar research base.

Image credit: CGTN/CNSA/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Documentary video

Meanwhile, in a related development, a documentary video – “Back to the Far Side” – has been released by the China Global Television Network (CGTN) and the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

This behind-the-scenes video captures the intense and sometimes emotional outcomes from drilling and scooping up far side samples during the Chang’e-6 lunar mission.

The Chinese engineering team spent more than a decade perfecting the Moon lander operations to accumulate the samples, later rocketed back to Earth.

How this feat was achieved can be seen in this clip taken from “Back to the Far Side.”

Video at:

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-09-21/A-gift-from-the-moon-1x4qPPm4DYY/p.html