In the image : CHANG'E 4 aboard the surface of moon
The CHINESE LUNAR EXPLORATION PROGRAM was formed in the earlier 2000s by the CHINESE NATIONAL SPACE ADMINISTRATION (CNSA) to explore and conduct experiments on the moon and finally achieve a crewed mission by the chinese.
The four phases of CHINESE LUNAR EXPLORATION program are described in the image below:
After making record for the first country making its landing on the dark side of the moon by CHANG'E 4 on 3rd January,2019, china unveils its future plans to carried out by CNSA recently. LUNA 24 was the first soviet program to perform an automated lunar collection. Following this CHANG'e 5 will use advanced AI and robotics and to your excitement, even a flying spacecraft.
CHANG'E 5 and the "mini flying spacecraft" as regarded by CNSA will require a Long March 5 Rocket which has a payload capacity of 8.2 Tons (18,000 lbs). The mission contains the following:
1. A Relay Satellite - carries a Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) system which contains an effectively based telescope system to study detailed radio astronomy observations and another instrument to study neutral atoms in Earth's Magnetosphere.
2. Lander - landing and topography cameras and instruments to measure volatiles, isotopes and measure heat flowing through lunar soil.
3. Rover - It will carry four primary components. It has lunar penetrating radar, a magnetometer, a Raman spectrometer for accurate analysis of mineral composition.
4. Mini flying aircraft - Finally it's the star of the show. The mini flying spacecraft. It will contain a water-molecule analyzer to measure the presence of water ice in the south pole.
This program is initially planned for November 2020 but the confirmed launch date is yet to be announced. This program seems to be really ambitious and will pave success and confident for further Chang'e missions.
With huge success of Chang'e 4, CNSA planned its mission upto Chang'e 7. Missions like Chang'e 7 and 8 will carry automatic 3D printers to establish an outpost. And finally at early 2030s, China will make its crewed landing. And that is when we may see funny rivalries between China and America like they showed in SPACE FORCE,NETFLIX. Yeah i am kidding. Space is all about space.
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