News from CCTV: According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, after public solicitation and selection, the name of the new aircraft for China's manned lunar exploration mission has been determined. The new generation of manned spacecraft is named "Mengzhou" and the lunar lander is named " Hold the moon." At present, the lunar landing phase of my country's manned lunar exploration project has been launched. It plans to carry out unmanned lunar landing flights in advance and achieve the first Chinese landing on the moon before 2030.
Previously, the new generation of manned launch vehicle has been named "Long March 10". In August 2023, the China Manned Space Engineering Office launched a collection activity for new aircraft names for manned lunar exploration missions from the public, and received nearly 2,000 submissions. After expert selection and review, the new generation manned spacecraft was named "Mengzhou" and the lunar lander was named "Moon".
Mengzhou spacecraft: The lunar landing mission can carry three astronauts to and from
The Mengzhou spacecraft is a new space-to-earth round-trip transport aircraft fully upgraded and developed on the basis of the Shenzhou spacecraft. It adopts a modular design and consists of a return capsule and a service module. It includes two models: the moon landing version and the near-Earth version for subsequent space station missions. Among them, the moon landing spacecraft is named "Mengzhouyue". The lunar landing mission can carry 3 astronauts to and from the ground and the lunar orbit, and the low-Earth orbit mission can carry 7 astronauts to and from the ground and the space station.
Lunar lander: the life center of astronauts after landing on the moon
The lunar lander is a newly developed extraterrestrial body manned descent and ascent vehicle in my country. It consists of a lunar landing module and a propulsion module. It is mainly used for lunar orbit and The astronaut transportation between the lunar surface can carry 2 astronauts back and forth, and can carry lunar rover and scientific payload. It is the lunar surface life center, energy center and data center for astronauts after landing on the moon, supporting lunar surface residency and Lunar surface activities.
Two Long March 10 launch vehicles will be used to launch the lander and spacecraft
According to the preliminary plan for manned lunar landing announced by the China Manned Space Engineering Office, two Long March 10 carrier rockets will be used to launch the lunar lander and the Mengzhou spacecraft. Sent to the Earth-Moon Transfer Orbit.
According to Ji Qiming, Assistant Director of the China Manned Space Engineering Office and Engineering Spokesperson, the two aircraft were rendezvous and docking in orbit around the moon. The astronauts entered the lander, and the lander sent the astronauts to the moon. Scientific expeditions and sample collection will be carried out on the lunar surface as planned. After completing the scheduled mission, the astronauts took the lunar lander and ascended to the lunar orbit. The two vehicles rendezvous and docked again. The astronauts transferred the lunar samples to the spacecraft, and the spacecraft returned to the earth from the moon-Earth transfer orbit.
Key technology research and program development have been completed by the end of 2023
Ji Qiming introduced that the implementation of the manned lunar exploration project will be carried out step by step in accordance with program development, preliminary and final prototype development, unmanned flight testing, and manned lunar missions. Our country has completed key technology research and program development work by the end of 2023.
Ji Qiming said that at present, major aircraft such as the Long March 10 launch vehicle, Mengzhou manned spacecraft, lunar lander and lunar landing suit have completed various development works in the planning stage and have fully entered the preliminary prototype development stage. The overall technical plan for astronaut measurement and control communications, launch site, landing site and other systems has been completed. The scientific research and application system and lunar surface activity support system are speeding up the development of lunar surface scientific payloads and manned lunar rover. The Wenchang launch site is newly built The construction of various test and launch facilities and equipment will also be fully launched.
