“Taikunauts” from the Celestial Empire will go on a lunar expedition by 2030
China has shared plans to send astronauts to the moon by 2030. Chinese officials on Wednesday released new details about their plans for a manned lunar mission, amid attempts by China to become only the second country in the world to send citizens to the moon.
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Zhang Hailian, Deputy Chief Engineer of China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), unveiled a preliminary plan at the Aerospace Summit in Wuhan city on Wednesday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The mission, which is expected to take place before 2030, is part of a project to build a lunar research station, CNN reports. According to Zhang, she will learn how to best build the facility, as well as carry out lunar exploration tasks and other experiments.
The two launch vehicles will send a lander to the lunar surface and a manned spacecraft into lunar orbit before they dock with each other, according to China's state-run Global Times. After docking, Chinese astronauts (or, as they are called in China, taikunauts) aboard the spacecraft will enter the lander, which is used to descend to the lunar surface.
While on the Moon, the expedition members will collect samples and conduct &ldquo ;scientific study” before heading to the lander and reunited with the spacecraft waiting in orbit to take them home to Earth, according to the Global Times.
To prepare for the mission, Chinese researchers are busy developing all the necessary equipment, including lunar suits, manned lunar rovers, manned spacecraft and moon landing vehicles, Xinhua reports.
State media reports did not say exactly how many astronauts China plans to send to the moon.
The lunar mission is the latest in China's push to advance its space program, which has seen several breakthrough moments in recent years.
As CNN notes, China is late for the space race – he sent his first satellite into orbit only in 1970, by which time the United States had already landed an astronaut on the moon, – but Beijing is quickly catching up.
Thus, in 2013, China successfully landed a lunar rover on Earth's natural satellite, becoming only the third country to do so. At that time, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said, «The space dream is part of the dream to make China stronger.»
Under the leadership of Xi Jinping, China has spent billions on its ambitious space program. Although there is no official data on Beijing's investment in space exploration, the consulting firm Euroconsult estimated it at about $5.8 billion in 2019.
That year, China sent a lunar rover to the far side of the moon – for the first time in history. Then, in 2020, it became only the third country to successfully collect rock samples from the Moon.
China has also spent the last few years building its own Tiangong space station, which was completed in November . The station is only the second active orbital outpost along with the International Space Station (ISS), which Chinese astronauts have long been barred from astronauts due to US political objections and regulatory restrictions.
But the ISS is expected to cease operations in 2030, which may leave Tiangong the only remaining outpost in space, CNN notes. China sought to open its station for cooperation with international partners, including through joint experiments with other countries.