China aims to send an unmanned probe to the moon’s south pole next year and return a 2 kilogram rock sample to Earth.
China National Space Administration (CNSA) Said On September 29, Chang’e 6 will be sent to the far side of the moon, which has not yet been explored by scientists. The company announced it would launch a satellite called Queqiao 2 (or Magpie Bridge 2) in early 2024 to relay communications with the moon.
Some commentators say that despite some previous reports, India cannot credibly claim to have reached the lunar south pole and that China has no chance to be a pioneer in that regard. He said there is.
Last year, the CNSA announced that Chang’e 6 would be launched in 2025, but earlier this year the timing was changed from 2024 to around 2025, with the new target set for next year.
CNSA’s latest announcement coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which has its roots in Chinese mythology. changegoddess of the moon.
This was also done after China’s top scientist Ouyang Liyuan. claimed India’s Chandrayaan-3, which landed on the moon’s surface on Wednesday, August 23, is actually not near the moon’s south pole.
“There are two things that need to be clarified about India’s lunar lander. First, the description of the landing site is inaccurate. Second, people are not saying that there is ‘water ice’ in Antarctica. I’m too optimistic about that,” Ouyang said in an interview with China Science Daily.
He said Chandrayaan-3 is at least 619 kilometers from the moon’s south pole region and it would be wrong to say that India has reached the south pole or is close to it.
1996, Science magazine article was suggested Ice may exist at the bottom of a permanently shadowed crater near the moon’s south pole. The volume of the deposit is estimated to be approximately 60,000 to 120,000 cubic meters.
Many countries are currently searching for ice at the moon’s south pole. If ice is discovered, it could be mined and broken down into oxygen and hydrogen. This ice is an important resource for possible human colonization of the Moon.
Last November, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched a small satellite. lunar flashlightThe company planned to use near-infrared lasers and onboard spectrometers to map ice in a permanently shadowed region near the moon’s south pole.
But in May, NASA announced that the mission had failed due to problems with the satellite’s propulsion system.
India vs China
The population of India in April is reached According to the United Nations, China has a population of 1.429 billion, surpassing China’s population of 1.426 billion, making it the world’s most populous country. China also faces increased competition from India due to the US strategy to diversify its manufacturing supply chain.
The seeds of conflict between India and China are also playing out in space. With the arrival of Chandrayaan-3 on August 23, India became the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the moon, following the Soviet Union (1966), the United States (1966), and China (2018). India claimed at the time that its spacecraft had landed near the moon’s south pole for the first time.
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On September 2, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) shut down all instruments on Chandrayaan-3 and put the craft into sleep mode. Given enough sunlight, the lander was supposed to wake up between September 22 and 30.But as of Friday it was still not online
The CNSA has announced that it will send its Chang’e 6 lunar probe, carrying cargo from France, Italy, Pakistan and the European Space Agency, to Antarctica’s Aitken Basin to search for ice and ancient rocks.
“Humans have brought back samples from the moon 10 times, all on the far side of the moon.” Said Wang Qiong, deputy chief designer of the Chang’e 6 mission. “Scientists believe that older soil samples can be found on the far side of the moon.”
Wang said rock samples from different ages will help scientists understand the moon’s history.
“Many countries around the world, including the United States, Japan and China, are seeking to explore the moon’s south pole. This region is expected to become increasingly crowded,” he said.
He added that conducting scientific research on the “peak of eternal light” at the moon’s south pole is appropriate because it is covered in sunlight for 70 to 80 percent of the year.
oxygen from minerals
In any case, even if “water ice” exists, mining it remains a major challenge.
Ouyang’s theory is that mining equipment may not be able to operate in the extremely low temperatures at the moon’s south pole. He argued that lunar minerals, rather than water ice, were a more promising source of oxygen production.
“People can bring water to the moon and create oxygen and hydrogen through electrolysis. Hydrogen can be used to make water by reducing ilmenite (a mineral of titanium and iron oxide),” Ouyang said. he said. “By recycling these resources, we can ensure a continuous supply of oxygen.”
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Some scientists believe that lunar samples brought to Earth by the Apollo spacecraft between 1969 and 1972 contained ilmenite, Of which 8-10% is oxygen. The maximum yield of oxygen from these rocks reaches 2-2.5%.
The Israeli company known as Helios oxygen factory The company plans to develop a prototype and send it to the moon in 2025, aiming to produce tens of grams of oxygen as a proof of concept.
Meanwhile, as part of NASA’s Artemis 2 mission, four astronauts will fly to the moon and return to Earth in November 2024. The Artemis 3 mission will have two astronauts land on the moon’s south pole in December 2025, where they will stay for about a week.
Read: China’s new bombing plan for 2030 manned moonshot
Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter. @jeffpao3