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China hopes to start exploratory work on base on the moon by 2024, says leading lunar scientist
- Wu Weiren said the next phase of the Chang’e lunar project aims to launch a spacecraft to begin surveying the south pole within 2 years
- Mission faces a number of challenges and a key goal is to get a clear picture of the resources available there and how they could be used to sustain life
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A lead scientist in China’s lunar programme has unveiled details of plans for the county’s first base on the moon, saying probes will start surveying the south pole for potentially vital resources, such as water.
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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 designer of the Chang’e programme, said on the sidelines of the annual lawmakers’ gathering in Beijing on Monday that the construction of a lunar base would start with the Chang’e 6 mission, which is expected to be launched in around two years’ time.
Chang’e 6 was initially intended to land on relatively flat terrain and test robotic sampling and return technology.
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But Wu said the 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.
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