China It plans to send a flight robot to the distant side of the moon next year to search for frozen water that can carry the key to lunar exploration in the future, as the country pushes forward the ambitious space program.
The government media reported on Monday that the automatic “aviation detector” will be published in the lunar southern pole as part of the China 7 mission, which aims to make the country closer to astronauts to land on the surface of the moon within five years.
China has gathered a great effort to establish itself as a major player in space – a field that is looking for countries, including the United States, to an increasing not only for scientific benefit, but also with the eye resources and National Security.
However, finding water on the moon will not be new. Last year, Chinese scientists found water in soil samples From the moon-5 moon probe, while NASA and the Indian spacecraft had previously monitored what they believed to be water on the surface of the moon.
But some scientists believe that only ice – which is believed to be preserved in drilling on the other side of the moon – can support future moon’s future as water source for astronauts.
Chinese space experts in the country CCTV said that the search for lunar ice is part of Chinese preparations for building a research base in the Antarctic of the moon.
“There are some very deep caves in the southern pole of the moon, and we believe that there may be water there,” Wu Warrin, chief designer of the Moon Exploration project in China, told CCTV. “We hope that the flying detector can perform on -site searches in caves or caves after landing.”
Chinese experts said that finding ice deposits can help maintain human life on the surface of the moon one day, adding that it will significantly reduce the cost of space tasks – and suggest the possibility of life outside the planet.
Other experts have told CNN previously that although the discoveries of the open lunar water doors for exploration in the future, we cannot yet use these results to plant crops on the moon or extract drinking water; These depend on many factors such as the extent of the abundance of water and the chemical shape they take.
The plane robot
In recent years, the Chinese National Space Administration has made a series of increasingly complex lunar missions, including The first return from the moon’s samples On the other side of the moon last year.
It was difficult to become the second country that wears astronauts on the moon, saying that its first mission would be held “by 2030”.
Under this plan, the Chang’e-7 mission scheduled for 2026 aims to conduct the most detailed survey of the southern lunar pole, using orbit, Musnad, leather, and airline detector.
Chinese experts told government media that the flying robot could bend its legs and lands in a similar way to jump from people from the rise.
Experts added that the device is expected to implement at least three leaps from sunlight areas to shaded drilling for detailed analyzes, and the location of the ice, the amount and the distribution of ice may be determined.
studies It has shown This lunar ice is in the darkest and coldest areas in the poles, in the shades of drilling where the sun’s rays never reach the tilt of the moon’s axis. The warmest temperatures in these areas do not exceed 25 degrees Fahrenheit.
Tang Yohua, chief deputy designer of the Chang’e-7 Mission, said these harsh conditions will be strongly testing the flying robot.
He told government media: “Working for a long time under these circumstances is a great challenge.”
Simon McCarthy from CNN, Jesse Yong and Ashley Strickland contributed to the reports.
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