Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)/China Central Television (CCTV)/SciNews.ro/Inside Outer Space screengrab

China is now in an “accelerated pace” to realize the goal of the country’s first crewed landing on the Moon by 2030.

One aspect of that pedal to the metal mode for lunar exploration is China’s next robotic lunar lander – the Chang’e-6.

Reportedly departing in May, the Chang’e-6 is headed for a landing in the Moon’s south pole-Aitken basin. The lander will snag and bag lunar soil samples, launch those collectibles into lunar orbit for delivery to Earth.

China’s Chang’e-6 lunar sample return mission elements.
Credit: CNSA

Fraught with difficulties

That task will take roughly one and a half months, said Meng Zhanfeng, an engineer at the China Academy of Space Technology.

Unlike the previous Chang’e-5 mission that sampled the near side of the Moon, direct communications between Chang’e-6 and the Earth will rely on a soon-to-be-launched Queqiao-2 relay satellite. Its vital role is to handle communications between Chang’e-6 and controllers on Earth.

China’s plans for human crews on the Moon are being shaped.
Image credit: CCTV/Inside Outer Space screengrab

“The sampling process is complex and fraught with difficulties, requiring the support of the relay satellite,” Meng told China Central Television (CCTV). In late January, Chang’e-6 arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, where it is currently undergoing thorough preparation and testing, with a launch scheduled for the first half of 2024, Meng added.

Major products

Chang’e-6 is part of the “accelerated fourth phase” of China’s lunar exploration program, CCTV reports, detailed in the newly issued Blue Book of China Aerospace Science and Technology Activities 2023 released by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation earlier this week.

Chinese astronauts may be investigating the Moon up-close before 2030.
Image credit: China Manned Space Program

CCTV stated that major products related to the humans-on-the-Moon plan, now being carried out with an “accelerated pace,” include:

— The Long March-10 launch vehicle using liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants to dispatch spacecraft and Moon landers into the Earth-moon transfer orbit.

— A Mengzhou new-generation crewed spacecraft.

— The Lanyue lunar lander.

This hardware, along with lunar suits, has entered preliminary design and development stage according to the plan.

The supporting test launch facilities and equipment for China’s ambitious Moon agenda at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China’s Hainan Province are ready for construction, with various system-related research and development efforts progressing steadily, CCTV reports.