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Chinese Lunar Exploration Program

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Chinese Lunar Exploration Program
Program insignia: a lunar crescent with two footprints at its center. The symbol resembles 月 [zh], the Chinese character for "Moon".
Program overview
CountryChina
OrganizationChina National Space Administration (CNSA)
Purposerobotic Moon missions
Statuscurrent
Program history
Duration2003 – present
First flightChang'e 1, 24 October 2007, 10:05:04.602 (2007-10-24UTC10:05:04Z) UTC
Last flightChang'e 5, 23 November 2020, 20:30 (2020-11-23UTC20:30Z) UTC
Launch site(s)
Vehicle information
Vehicle typelunar orbiters, landers, rovers and sample return spacecraft
Launch vehicle(s)

The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP; Chinese: 中国探月; pinyin: Zhōngguó Tànyuè), also known as the Chang'e Project (Chinese: 嫦娥工程; pinyin: Cháng'é Gōngchéng) after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e, is an ongoing series of robotic Moon missions by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The program incorporates lunar orbiters, landers, rovers and sample return spacecraft, launched using Long March rockets. Launches and flights are monitored by a telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) system, which uses 50-meter (160-foot) radio antennas in Beijing and 40-meter (130-foot) antennas in Kunming, Shanghai, and Ürümqi to form a 3,000-kilometer (1,900-mile) VLBI antenna.[1][2] A proprietary ground application system is responsible for downlink data reception.

Ouyang Ziyuan, a geologist, chemical cosmologist, and the program's chief scientist, was among the first to advocate the exploitation not only of known lunar reserves of metals such as titanium, but also of helium-3, an ideal fuel for future nuclear fusion power plants. Scientist Sun Jiadong is the program's the general designer and Sun Zezhou is deputy general designer. The leading program manager is Luan Enjie.

The first spacecraft of the program, the Chang'e 1 lunar orbiter, was launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center on 24 October 2007,[3] having been delayed from the initial planned date of 17–19 April 2007.[4] A second orbiter, Chang'e 2, was launched on 1 October 2010.[5][6] Chang'e 3, which includes a lander and rover, was launched on 1 December 2013 and successfully soft-landed on the Moon on 14 December 2013. Chang'e 4, which includes a lander and rover, was launched on 7 December 2018 and landed on 3 January 2019 on the South Pole-Aitken Basin, on the far side of the Moon. A sample return mission, Chang'e 5, launched on 23 November 2020.

As indicated by the official insignia, the shape of a calligraphic nascent lunar crescent with two human footprints at its center reminiscent of the Chinese character 月, the Chinese character for "Moon", the ultimate objective of the program is to pave the way for a crewed mission to the Moon. China National Space Administration head Zhang Kejian announced that China is planning to land crew on the Moon's south pole "within the next 10 years," (2019–2029).[7]

Program structure

The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program is divided into four main operational phases, with each mission serving as a technology demonstrator in preparation for future missions. International cooperation in the form of various payloads and a robotic station is invited by China.[8]

Phase I: Orbital missions

The first phase entailed the launch of two lunar orbiters, and is now effectively complete.

  • Chang'e 1, launched on 24 October 2007 aboard a Long March 3A rocket, scanned the entire Moon in unprecedented detail, generating a high definition 3D map that would provide a reference for future soft landings. The probe also mapped the abundance and distribution of various chemical elements on the lunar surface as part of an evaluation of potentially useful resources.
  • Chang'e 2, launched on 1 October 2010 aboard a Long March 3C rocket, reached the Moon in under 5 days, compared to 12 days for Chang'e 1, and mapped the Moon in even greater detail. It then left lunar orbit and headed for the Earth–Sun L2 Lagrangian point in order to test the TT&C network. Having done that it completed a flyby of asteroid 4179 Toutatis on 13 December 2012, before heading into deep space to further test the TT&C network.

Phase II: Soft landers/rovers

The second phase is ongoing, and incorporates spacecraft capable of soft-landing on the Moon and deploying lunar rovers.

  • Chang'e 3, launched on 2 December 2013 aboard a Long March 3B rocket, landed on the Moon on 14 December 2013. It carried with it a 140 kilograms (310 pounds) lunar rover named Yutu, which was designed to explore an area of 3 square kilometers (1.2 square miles) during a 3-month mission. It was also supposed to conduct ultra-violet observations of galaxies, active galactic nuclei, variable stars, binaries, novae, quasars, and blazars, as well as the structure and dynamics of the Earth's plasmasphere.
  • Chang'e 4 was launched on 7 December 2018. Originally scheduled for 2015, was a back-up for Chang'e 3. However, as a result of the success of that mission, the configuration of Chang'e 4 was adjusted for the next mission.[9] It landed on 3 January 2019 on the South Pole-Aitken Basin, on the far side of the Moon, and deployed the Yutu-2 rover.[10]

Phase III: Sample-return

The third phase included a lunar sample-return mission.

  • Chang'e 5-T1 was launched on 23 October 2014. It was designed to test the lunar return spacecraft.
  • Chang'e 5, was launched on 23 November 2020, landed near Mons Rümker on the moon on 1 December 2020, and returned to earth with 2 kilograms of lunar soil on 16 December 2020.[11]

Phase IV: Lunar research station

Development of a robotic research station near the Moon's south pole.[8][12][13]

  • Chang'e 6, expected to launch in 2023 or 2024,[14][15] will investigate the topography, composition and subsurface structure of the landing site, and it will return south polar samples to Earth.[15][16]
  • Chang'e 7, expected to launch in 2023, is a lander that will explore the south pole for resources.[17][15][16] The mission will include an orbiter, a lander, a rover, and a mini-flying probe.[17][12]
  • Chang'e 8, expected to launch in 2027, will verify the utilization and development of natural resources.[15][16] It may include a lander, a rover, and a flying detector,[12] as well as a 3D-printing experiment using in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) to test-build a structure,[8] It will also transport a small sealed ecosystem experiment.[12] It will test technology necessary to the construction of a lunar science base.[18]

Crewed mission

See also: Chinese next-generation crewed spacecraft

As of 2019, China was reviewing preliminary studies for a crewed lunar landing mission in the 2030s,[19][20] and possibly build an outpost near the lunar south pole with international cooperation.[8][19]

List of missions

Mission
 Launch date
 Launch vehicle
 Notes
 Status
Phase 1
Chang'e 1 24 Oct 2007 Long March 3A Lunar orbiter; first Chinese lunar mission. Success
Chang'e 2 1 Oct 2010 Long March 3C Lunar orbiter; following lunar orbit mission flew extended mission to 4179 Toutatis. Success
Phase 2
Chang'e 3 1 Dec 2013 Long March 3B Lunar lander and rover; first Chinese lunar landing, landed in Mare Imbrium with Yutu 1. Success
Queqiao 1 20 May 2018 Long March 4C Relay satellite located at the Earth-Moon L2 point in order to allow communications with Chang'e 4. Ongoing
Chang'e 4 7 Dec 2018 Long March 3B Lunar lander and rover; first ever soft landing on the Far side of the Moon, landed in Von Karman crater with Yutu 2. Ongoing
Phase 3
Chang'e 5-T1 23 Oct 2014 Long March 3C Experimental test flight testing technologies ahead of first Lunar sample return; tested return capsule and lunar orbit autonomous rendezvous techniques and other maneuvers. Success
Chang'e 5 23 Nov 2020 Long March 5 Lunar orbiter, lander, and sample return; which landed near Mons Rümker and returned 2 kg of lunar soil to Earth. Success
Phase 4
Chang'e 6 2024 Long March 5 Lunar orbiter, lander, and sample return; scheduled to land at a currently undisclosed site near the lunar south pole, which will most likely depend on the outcome of Chang'e 5. Planned
Chang'e 7 2023 Long March 5 Lunar orbiter, lander, rover, and mini-flying probe; expected to perform in-depth exploration of the lunar south pole to look for resources.[17] Planned
Chang'e 8 2027 Long March 5 Full mission details are currently unknown; may test new technologies including an ISRU system, ahead of future crewed exploration of the Moon. Planned

Key technologies

Long-range TT&C

The biggest challenge in Phase I of the program was the operation of the TT&C system, because its transmission capability needed sufficient range to communicate with the probes in lunar orbit.[21] China's standard satellite telemetry had a range of 80,000 kilometers (50,000 miles), but the distance between the Moon and the Earth can exceed 400,000 kilometers (250,000 miles) when the Moon is at apogee. In addition, the Chang'e probes had to carry out many attitude maneuvers during their flights to the Moon and during operations in lunar orbit. The distance across China from east to west is 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles),[22] forming another challenge to TT&C continuity. At present, the combination of the TT&C system and the Chinese astronomical observation network has met the needs of the Chang'e program,[23] but only by a small margin.

Environmental adaptability

The complexity of the space environment encountered during the Chang'e missions imposed strict requirements for environmental adaptability and reliability of the probes and their instruments. The high-radiation environment in Earth-Moon space required hardened electronics to prevent electromagnetic damage to spacecraft instruments. The extreme temperature range, from 130 degrees Celsius (266 degrees Fahrenheit) on the side of the spacecraft facing the Sun to −170 degrees Celsius (−274 degrees Fahrenheit) on the side facing away from the Sun, imposed strict requirements for temperature control in the design of the detectors.

Orbit design and flight sequence control

Given the conditions of the three-body system of the Earth, Moon and a space probe, the orbit design of lunar orbiters is more complicated than that of Earth-orbiting satellites, which only deal with a two-body system. The Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2 probes were first sent into highly elliptical Earth orbits. After separating from their launch vehicles, they entered an Earth-Moon transfer orbit through three accelerations in the phase-modulated orbit. These accelerations were conducted 16, 24, and 48 hours into the missions, during which several orbit adjustments and attitude maneuvers were carried out so as to ensure the probes' capture by lunar gravity. After operating in the Earth-Moon orbit for 4–5 days, each probe entered a lunar acquisition orbit. After entering their target orbits, conducting three braking maneuvers and experiencing three different orbit phases, Chang'e 1 and Chang'e 2 carried out their missions.

Attitude control

Lunar orbiters have to remain properly oriented with respect to the Earth, Moon and Sun. All onboard detectors must be kept facing the lunar surface in order to complete their scientific missions, communication antennas have to face the Earth in order to receive commands and transfer scientific data, and solar panels must be oriented toward the Sun in order to acquire power. During lunar orbit, the Earth, the Moon and the Sun also move, so attitude control is a complex three-vector control process. The Chang'e satellites need to adjust their attitude very carefully to maintain an optimal angle towards all three bodies.

Hazard avoidance

During the second phase of the program, in which the spacecraft were required to soft-land on the lunar surface, it was necessary to devise a system of automatic hazard avoidance in order that the landers would not attempt to touch down on unsuitable terrain. Chang'e 3 utilized a computer vision system in which the data from a down-facing camera, as well as 2 ranging devices, were processed using specialized software. The software controlled the final stages of descent, adjusting the attitude of the spacecraft and the throttle of its main engine. The spacecraft hovered first at 100 meters (330 feet), then at 30 meters (98 feet), as it searched for a suitable spot to set down. The Yutu rover is also equipped with front-facing stereo cameras and hazard avoidance technology.

Cooperation with Russia

In November 2017, China and Russia signed an agreement on cooperative lunar and deep space exploration.[24] The agreement includes six sectors, covering lunar and deep space, joint spacecraft development, space electronics, Earth remote sensing data, and space debris monitoring.[24][25][26] Russia may also look to develop closer ties with China in human spaceflight,[24] and even shift its human spaceflight cooperation from the US to China and build a crewed lunar lander.[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ (in Chinese) “嫦娥奔月”地面主干工程基本完成 云南天文台巨型射电追踪望远镜年底投入使用 Archived 2007-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ 巨型望远镜送“嫦娥”飞月-望远镜,嫦娥-北方网-科技无限
  3. ^ ""嫦娥一号"发射时间确定 但未到公布时机". Xinhua News Agency. 7 July 2007. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
  4. ^ (in Chinese) 阅读文章
  5. ^ Stephen Clark (1 October 2010). "China's second moon probe dispatched from Earth". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  6. ^ "China's 2nd lunar probe Chang'e-2 blasts off". Xinhua. 1 October 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
  7. ^ "China to build moon station in 'about 10 years'".
  8. ^ a b c d Chang'e 4 press conference. CNSA, broadcast on 14 January 2019.
  9. ^ Austin Ramzy (16 December 2013). "China Celebrates Lunar Probe and Announces Return Plans". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
  10. ^ Rivers, Matt; Regan, Helen; Jiang, Steven (3 January 2019). "China lunar rover successfully touches down on far side of the moon, state media announces". CNN. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  11. ^ "China recovers Chang'e-5 moon samples after complex 23-day mission". SpaceNews. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  12. ^ a b c d China's Planning for Deep Space Exploration and Lunar Exploration before 2030. (PDF) XU Lin, ZOU Yongliao, JIA Yingzhuo. Space Sci., 2018, 38(5): 591-592. doi:10.11728/cjss2018.05.591
  13. ^ A Tentative Plan of China to Establish a Lunar Research Station in the Next Ten Years. Zou, Yongliao; Xu, Lin; Jia, Yingzhuo. 42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly. Held 14–22 July 2018, in Pasadena, California, USA, Abstract id. B3.1-34-18.
  14. ^ "中法将开展探月合作：嫦娥六号搭载法方设备". guancha.cn. 26 March 2019.
  15. ^ a b c d "Lunar plans for phase IV". Archived from the original on 15 April 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  16. ^ a b c Lunar program next plan
  17. ^ a b c Jones, Andrew (5 August 2020). "China is moving ahead with lunar south pole and near-Earth asteroid missions". SpaceNews. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  18. ^ Future Chinese Lunar Missions. David R. Williams, NASA. Accessed on 7 November 2019.
  19. ^ a b China lays out its ambitions to colonize the moon and build a "lunar palace". Echo Huang, Quartz. 26 April 2018.
  20. ^ China prepares first manned mission to the Moon. Ben Blanchard, Independent. 7 June 2017.
  21. ^ Shen, Rongjun; Qian, Weiping (29 September 2012). Proceedings of the 26th Conference of Spacecraft TT&C Technology in China. ISBN 9783642336621.
  22. ^ "China's Location, Size, Land Boundaries, Length of Coastline, and Maritime Claims".
  23. ^ "China Builds Advanced Spacecraft Tracking and Command Network".
  24. ^ a b c China, Russia agree cooperation on lunar and deep space exploration, other sectors. Archived 27 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine GB Times. 2 November 2017.
  25. ^ Russia, China to add lunar projects to joint space cooperation program. TASS, Russia. 11 July 2018.
  26. ^ China, Russia agree cooperation on lunar and deep space. Janet R. Aguilar, Tunisie Soir. 3 March 2018.
  27. ^ Russia's Space Agency Might Break Up With the U.S. To Get With China. Anatoly Zak, Popular Mechanics. 7 March 2018.
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