What did "Jade Rabbit" do for 600 days on the moon? This conference also answered these "questions" →
Recently, the 2020 China Space Conference is being held in Fuzhou.
At this conference, space experts from multiple fields gathered together to discuss the future direction and plan of my country's space development.
Yutu 2 is in good condition and obtains a large amount of effective scientific data
Recently, the Chang'e-4 probe has entered its 22nd day working period. The probe and patrol have been working on the back of the moon for more than 600 days, far exceeding the expected design life.
Yu Dengyun, deputy chief designer of the lunar exploration project: The Chang'e-4 lander has a lifespan of about half a year, and the patrol has a lifespan of three months. Now we have greatly exceeded our expectations. It has been more than 600 days. it is good.
Of course, on the other hand, in terms of science, we feel that this time we have also obtained many new scientific discoveries that we did not realize before.
Yu Dengyun said that the current Yutu-2 lunar rover is in good condition and can continue to undertake the mission of lunar back exploration.
Since the Chang'e-4 probe landed on the back of the moon in January 2019, the Yutu-2 lunar rover has traveled more than 500 meters according to the planned route.
Along the way, it has obtained a large amount of effective scientific data, and these results have provided important support for mankind to understand and understand the moon.
Yu Dengyun, deputy chief designer of the lunar exploration project: One is the topography of our lunar surface and the cross-sectional structure of the topography of the back of the moon. We obtained the geological structure around the landing area.
Then in the local terrain, the lunar rover is constantly walking, so the scope of our understanding is getting wider and wider.
With the continuous development of my country's lunar exploration projects and the deepening of understanding of the moon, in the future there are plans to build scientific research stations on the moon to carry out further scientific exploration.
Yu Dengyun, deputy chief designer of the lunar exploration project: At present, our plan is to aim at an unmanned lunar research station by 2030. Our planned mission is "Chang'e" No. 7, No. 6, and No. 8.
my country's implementation of manned moon landing still faces many challenges
At this space conference, Zhou Yanfei, deputy chief designer of manned space engineering, gave a speech on the theme of manned lunar exploration.
He said that at present, the demonstration of the manned moon exploration program is continuing, and there are still many technological breakthroughs to achieve the goal.
Zhou Yanfei, deputy chief designer of manned space engineering: A new wave of lunar exploration is currently forming in the world, including manned and unmanned. Then international cooperation in manned lunar exploration is also intertwined and affects each other.
Zhou Yanfei said that my country has implemented manned spaceflight projects for nearly 30 years, and has achieved important results. At the same time, it has accumulated rich experience, which has laid the foundation for manned lunar exploration.
However, to truly implement manned lunar exploration, there are still many challenges.
Zhou Yanfei, deputy chief designer of manned space engineering: For example, the ability to enter space and return, then our current Long March series of launch vehicles, its carrying capacity currently cannot meet the demand.
Then the Shenzhou spacecraft is our current near-Earth manned spacecraft, which has not been able to meet the needs of the moon landing. At the same time, a manned lunar lander is needed for manned landing.
In addition to the means of delivery, my country currently does not have the experience and technology accumulation for survival outside the earth, and the lack of corresponding supporting support systems is also a major problem currently facing.
Zhou Yanfei, deputy chief designer of manned space engineering: The second aspect is that the ability to survive extraterrestrially. At present, we Chinese have no experience of surviving extraterrestrially.
Ground support capabilities. Our current manned space activities are mainly to support near-Earth missions. Then we need to establish a systematic lunar scientific exploration and application system and propose original scientific exploration. Goals and methods.
Tianwen 1 Mars Rover: Six-wheel drive with six loads
At present, the Tianwen-1 probe has flown more than 150 million kilometers away from the earth, and is expected to reach Mars next year and make a soft landing on the surface of Mars.
At this space conference, Zhang Rongqiao, chief designer of the first Mars exploration mission, introduced the relevant situation of the Mars rover.
The rover on the Tianwen 1 mission weighs approximately 240 kilograms and has a height of approximately 1.85 meters.
Unlike the lunar rover, the solar wing of the Mars rover is designed in the shape of a butterfly wing.
In addition, in order to adapt to the special environment on the surface of Mars, the rover uses six-wheel drive and can travel at a speed of 200 meters per hour on the surface of Mars.
According to mission requirements, the rover carries six types of payloads, including terrain cameras, multispectral cameras, subsurface detection radars, surface composition detectors, surface magnetic field detectors, and weather measuring instruments.
The design life of the rover is 3 Martian months, which is equivalent to approximately 92 Earth days.
In the meantime, it will carry out exploration work on the surface of Mars, such as surface composition, material type distribution, geological structure, and Martian meteorological environment.
The Tianwen-1 mission opened the prelude to my country's deep space exploration. Zhang Rongqiao, the chief designer of China's first Mars exploration mission, said that in the future, my country will also implement asteroid sampling return, Mars sampling return, and Jupiter orbiting exploration missions.