Moon base work to start in 2 years, scientist says

Next phase of Chang’e project aims to launch spacecraft to survey the lunar south pole

A leading scientist in the lunar programme has unveiled details of plans for the country’s first base on the moon, saying probes will start surveying the south pole for vital resources such as water.

China has teamed up with Russia to compete with the United States and its allies in setting up a permanent outpost on the moon.

Unlike the Cold War space race, the goal this time is to stay. To do so requires a wide range of resources – ranging from oxygen and construction materials to water – and there is a three-phase plan to survey the lunar surface to get a clear picture of what will be found there.

Wu Weiren, chief architect of the Chang’e programme, said on the sidelines of the annual lawmakers’ gathering in Beijing that the construction of a lunar base would start with the Chang’e 6 mission, which is expected to be launched in about two years.

Chang’e 6 was initially intended to land on relatively flat terrain and test robotic sampling and return technology.

But Wu said space authorities now want it to go to the moon’s rugged south pole, where the lunar base will be built, and bring samples back to Earth for laboratory analysis.

Two more probes will carry out further experiments to learn more about the mineral resources there and how they can be used.

These missions will lay the groundwork for an international research station at the lunar south pole before 2030, Wu added.

“The main purpose of all the work here is for the scientific exploration, development and utilisation of lunar resources … otherwise it will be meaningless to go there,” he said in a Science and Technology Daily report.

The US is also looking at the lunar south pole, with the Artemis mission aiming to return astronauts to the surface of the moon for the first time since the early 1970s and set up a base there.

Unlike the flat regions where the Apollo missions landed, the lunar south pole has an uneven surface, which limits the number of landing sites, Wu said.

Part of the polar region is also on the far side of the moon, making direct communication with the Earth impossible without a satellite relay.

So far, only China has landed a robotic rover on the far side of the lunar south pole during 2019’s Chang’e 4 mission.

“Returning samples from the polar region is difficult, but the value is high,” Wu said.

The lunar south pole has deep craters that might hold precious water resources in the form of ice and gets more direct sunlight than other parts of the moon, both factors that could make human settlement easier. A main target of the mission would be to locate ice using a small flying probe, Wu told China News Services.