Trainee reporter Sun Mingyuan
The space station can serve as a testing ground for many lunar exploration technologies.
Conducting scientific research experiments is itself one of the basic missions of the space station. When the manned mission to the moon requires technical experiments, the space station is naturally "obliged."
At the end of 2021, at a meeting with Chinese and foreign journalists held by the Central Propaganda Department, Dong Ligong, director of the General Technology Bureau of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, revealed that China is currently conducting research on key technologies for manned moon landing and deepening the demonstration of the plan.
For a time, the topic of manned landing on the moon returned to the public eye.
In January 2019, Wu Yanhua, then deputy director of the National Space Administration and deputy commander-in-chief of the lunar exploration project, said at a press conference of the State Council Information Office that China is organizing scientists to pay close attention to research, and it has not yet reached the decision-making stage. .
In the following three years, China's aerospace industry has achieved many important results. The Tianwen-1 landing on Mars and the unmanned lunar exploration "Chang'e Project" completed the three major goals of "orbiting, landing, and returning", and the Chinese space station entered the era of long-term manned residence. … China's manned spaceflight has brought more and more surprises and expectations to the public, but the manned mission to the moon has not yet determined its "schedule."
After the completion of unmanned lunar exploration, manned lunar landing is the second step in the "three major steps" of China's lunar exploration project, and it is also a prerequisite for achieving long-term lunar stationing.
From putting on the agenda to realizing it, how far are we from the manned moon landing?
Can the Chinese Space Station help manned people land on the moon?
Manned moon landing is costly but long-term rewards are great
On December 10, 1972, the "Apollo 17" recovery warehouse successfully landed in the South Pacific, marking the completion of the sixth mission of the United States to the moon.
So far, the "Apollo Project" has come to an end. "Apollo 17" is the last manned moon landing in human history.
In the nearly half a century after this mission, the manned mission to the moon fell into "silence". Neither the government nor the enterprise has reproduced the famous "one small step" of American astronaut Armstrong. .
“Manned landing on the moon is extremely costly and extremely risky. This is unquestionable.” In an interview with a reporter from Science and Technology Daily, Yang Yuguang, vice chairman of the Space Transportation Committee of the International Astronautical Federation and a researcher at the Second Academy of Aerospace Science and Industry of China, explained The reason for the "quiet" of people landing on the moon.
In the "Apollo Project" of the 1960s, the United States invested up to 25.5 billion U.S. dollars, which was a huge sum of money, accounting for about 4.5% of the total budget of the U.S. government at that time.
Each "Saturn V" heavy rocket used for landing on the moon is worth as much as an aircraft carrier.
It was only under the special historical conditions of the Cold War space race that such a large investment was made.
With the changes in the world situation in the 1970s, the United States terminated expensive manned missions to the moon, and other countries were temporarily unable to carry out these missions. This is why manned missions to the moon fell into "silence".
Today's lunar exploration activities focus on the combination of scientific exploration and economic benefits, focusing on the exploration of lunar resources, laying the foundation for the future development and utilization of lunar resources.
In addition to the huge cost, manned missions to the moon are also extremely risky.
"The fault tolerance rate of the lunar orbital junction and docking program is very low, and a small error in any link may cause the mission to fail. This is why Dong Ligong said that further technical research and program demonstration are required." Yang Yuguang said.
However, he does not think that manned landing on the moon is just a "face-saving project."
Take "Apollo 17" as an example. One of the astronauts involved in the mission, Harrison Schmidt, is a geologist. He not only guided other astronauts in geological exploration, but also personally retrieved extremely valuable research from the moon. Specimens.
Although the United States has invested heavily in the manned moon landing program, the value of the results of the program in the past half century has reached at least six times the amount of investment.
"The short-term benefits of manned moon landings may be very low, but I think its long-term benefits are high. Not to mention that future lunar bases must be based on manned moon landings. From a scientific point of view, we must strive to achieve manned operations. Landing on the moon." Yang Yuguang commented.
The space station cannot directly participate in the mission to the moon
In 2021, the construction of China's space station has achieved great success. Can it help mankind carry out manned missions to the moon?
Yang Yuguang said: "In the manned mission to the moon, the Chinese space station can play a role, but it cannot directly participate in the mission to the moon."
The space station runs in low-Earth orbit, about 400 kilometers above the ground, and the orbit is relatively fixed, and it is "far away" from the moon about 380,000 kilometers away. It does not have the ability and need to act as a transit station.
In addition, the moon landing mission requires a very high time window for rocket launches. Launching from the ground is a big challenge, not to mention launching from low-Earth orbit.
“It is difficult for the space station to directly participate in the mission to the moon. Another reason is that the propellant of manned rockets, that is, fuel, cannot be stored in space for a long time. Currently, all rockets that can be used for manned missions to the moon are used Low-temperature propellants such as liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are difficult to store in space for a long time. This also determines that the rocket used for manned moon landing must be launched from the ground." Yang Yuguang added.
However, although the inability to directly participate in the manned mission to the moon does not mean that the space station will not be able to play other roles in the manned mission to the moon.
Yang Yuguang explained that the space station can serve as a testing ground for many lunar exploration technologies.
Conducting scientific research experiments is itself one of the basic missions of the space station. When the manned mission to the moon requires technical experiments, the space station is naturally "obliged."
From this perspective, the space station will play an important role in manned missions to the moon.
"However, all aerospace programs require rigorous demonstration and a large number of experiments, and the same is true for manned moon landing. Dong Lieng also said that manned moon landing also requires key technical research and program deepening demonstration. This is the only way to go." Yang Yuguang finally said.