Английская Википедия:Chinese Lunar Exploration Program

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The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP; Шаблон:Zh), also known as the Chang'e Project (Шаблон:Zh) after the Chinese Moon goddess Chang'e, is an ongoing series of robotic Moon missions by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The program encompasses lunar orbiters, landers, rovers and sample return spacecraft, launched using the Long March series of rockets. A human lunar landing component may have been added to the program, after China publicly announced crewed lunar landing plans by the year 2030 during a conference in July 2023.

The program's launches and flights are monitored by a telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C) system, which uses Шаблон:Convert radio antennas in Beijing and Шаблон:Convert antennas in Kunming, Shanghai, and Ürümqi to form a Шаблон:Convert VLBI antenna. 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. Ye Peijian serves as the program's chief commander and chief designer.Шаблон:Better citation Scientist Sun Jiadong is the program's general designer and Sun Zezhou is deputy general designer. The leading program manager is Luan Enjie.Шаблон:Citation needed

The first spacecraft of the program, the Chang'e 1 lunar orbiter, was launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center on 24 October 2007, having been delayed from the initial planned date of 17–19 April 2007. A second orbiter, Chang'e 2, was launched on 1 October 2010. 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 in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, on the far side of the Moon. A sample return mission, Chang'e 5, which launched on 23 November 2020 and returned on 16 December in the same year, brought 1,731 g (61.1 oz) of lunar samples back to Earth.

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 Шаблон:Lang, 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 had announced that China is planning to build a scientific research station on the Moon's south pole "within the next 10 years," (2019–2029).

On 12 July 2023, at the 9th China (International) Commercial Aerospace Forum in Wuhan, Hubei province, Zhang Hailian, a deputy chief designer with the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), publicly introduced a preliminary plan to land two astronauts on the Moon by the year 2030.

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.

Phase I (robotic): 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 Шаблон: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 (robotic): 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 Шаблон:Convert lunar rover named Yutu, which was designed to explore an area of Шаблон:Convert 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. 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.

Phase III (robotic): 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 about 1.7 kilograms of lunar soil on 16 December 2020.

Phase IV (robotic): Lunar robotic research station

Phase IV is the development of an autonomous lunar research station near the Moon's south pole. The Phase IV program entered active development in 2023 following the successful completion of the previous three phases.

• Chang'e 6, expected to launch in May 2024, will investigate the topography, composition and subsurface structure of the South Pole–Aitken basin. The mission will return samples to Earth.
• Chang'e 7, expected to launch in 2026, is a mission that will explore the south pole for resources. The mission will include an orbiter, a lander, and a mini-flying probe.
• Chang'e 8, expected to launch in 2028, will verify in-situ resource development and utilization technologies. It may include a lander, a rover, and a flying detector, as well as a 3D-printing experiment using in situ resource utilization (ISRU) to test-build a structure, It will also transport a small sealed ecosystem experiment. It will test technology necessary to the construction of a lunar science base.

Crewed mission phase

Шаблон:See also Шаблон:See also Шаблон:As of, China was reviewing preliminary studies for a crewed lunar landing mission in the 2030s, and possibly building an outpost near the lunar south pole with international cooperation.

As of 2023, China's goal is to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030.

2035 and thereafter: International Moon base and application

In 2021, China and Russia announced they will be building a Moon base together, also formally invited more countries and international organizations to join their International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) project being developed by the two nations, as an alternative to the American Artemis Program. China announced on April 24th the International Lunar Research Station Cooperation Organization (ILRSCO) and will announce the founding member states in June 2023.

List of missions

Conducted missions

Mission	Launch Date	Launch Vehicle	Orbital Insertion Date	Landing Date	Return Date	Notes	Status
							Main Mission	Extended Mission
Phase 1
Chang'e 1	24 Oct 2007	Long March 3A	7 Nov 2007	Шаблон:Partial	-	Lunar orbiter; first Chinese lunar mission.	Шаблон:Success	Шаблон:No attempt
Chang'e 2	1 Oct 2010	Long March 3C	6 Oct 2010	-	-	Lunar orbiter; following lunar orbit mission flew extended mission to 4179 Toutatis.	Шаблон:Success	Шаблон:Success
Phase 2
Chang'e 3	1 Dec 2013	Long March 3B	6 Dec 2013	Шаблон:WinDL	-	Lunar lander and rover; first Chinese lunar landing, landed in Mare Imbrium with Yutu 1.	Шаблон:Success	Шаблон:Usually
Queqiao 1	20 May 2018	Long March 4C	14 Jun 2018	-	-	Relay satellite located at the Earth-Moon L2 point in order to allow communications with Chang'e 4.	Шаблон:Success	Шаблон:Usually
Chang'e 4	7 Dec 2018	Long March 3B	12 Dec 2018	Шаблон:WinDL	-	Lunar lander and rover; first soft landing on the Far side of the Moon, landed in Von Karman crater with Yutu-2.	Шаблон:Success	Шаблон:Usually
Phase 3
Chang'e 5-T1	23 Oct 2014	Long March 3C	10 Jan 2015	-	31 Oct 2014	Experimental test flight testing technologies ahead of first Lunar sample return; tested return capsule and lunar orbit autonomous rendezvous techniques and other maneuvers.	Шаблон:Success	Шаблон:Usually
Chang'e 5	23 Nov 2020	Long March 5	28 Nov 2020	Шаблон:WinDL	16 Dec 2020	Lunar orbiter, lander, and sample return; which landed near Mons Rümker and returned 1731g of lunar soil to Earth. The service module made a visit to Lagrange point L1 and also performed a lunar flyby in extended mission.	Шаблон:Success	Шаблон:Usually

Upcoming missions

Mission	Launch Date	Launch Vehicle	Mission Type	Notes
Phase 4
Queqiao 2	March 2024	Long March 8	Lunar relay satellite	Relay satellite to support communications for the upcoming lunar missions.
Chang'e 6	May 2024	Long March 5	Lunar sample return	Lunar orbiter, lander, and sample return; scheduled to land at the South Pole–Aitken basin on the far side of the Moon.
Chang'e 7	2026	Long March 5	Lunar surface survey	Lunar orbiter, lander, rover, and mini-flying probe; expected to perform in-depth exploration of the lunar south pole to look for resources.
Chang'e 8	2028	Long March 5	Lunar surface survey	Full mission details are currently unknown; will test ISRU and 3D-printing technologies, ahead of future crewed exploration of the Moon.
1st crewed lunar mission	2029-2030	Long March 10	Human landing on lunar surface	2 launches using the Long March 10 to place two astronauts on the lunar surface via the next-generation crewed spacecraft and the Chinese crewed lunar lander.

Key technologies

Long-range TT&C

Шаблон:See also 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. China's standard satellite telemetry had a range of Шаблон:Convert, but the distance between the Moon and the Earth can exceed Шаблон:Convert 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 Шаблон:Convert, 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, 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 Шаблон:Convert on the side of the spacecraft facing the Sun to Шаблон:Convert 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 Шаблон:Convert, then at Шаблон:Convert, 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.

International cooperation

Chang’e 1: The first Chinese lunar orbiter, launched in 2007. It carried a European Space Agency (ESA) instrument called D-CIXS, which measured the elemental composition of the lunar surface. It also received tracking and data relay support from ESA’s ground stations in Australia and Spain.

Chang’e 2: The second Chinese lunar orbiter, launched in 2010. It carried a laser altimeter provided by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which mapped the lunar topography with high precision. It also used ESA’s deep space network for communication and navigation during its extended mission to the asteroid 4179 Toutatis.

Chang’e 3: The first Chinese lunar lander and rover, launched in 2013. It carried a lunar ultraviolet telescope (LUT) developed by the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC) and the International Lunar Observatory Association (ILOA), which performed the first astronomical observations from the lunar surface. It also received data relay support from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) for the landing of the Chang’e 3 probe.

Chang’e-4: The first mission to land and explore the far side of the Moon, with four international scientific payloads from the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia. It also received support from NASA’s LRO team, Russia’s radioisotope heat source, China’s deep space station in Argentina, and the European Space Agency’s tracking station.

Chang’e-5: The first mission to return lunar samples since 1976, with international cooperation in telemetry, tracking, and command from the European Space Agency, Argentina, Namibia, Pakistan, and other countries and organizations. It also carried a French magnetic field detector. Scientists from various countries, including Australia, Russia, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Sweden, have participated in scientific research involving Chinese lunar samples.

Cooperation with Russia

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

Gallery

• Chang'e 4 lander on the Moon

  Chang'e 4 lander on the Moon

• Yutu-2 rover on lunar surface

  Yutu-2 rover on lunar surface

See also

• Chinese space program
• Planetary Exploration of China
  • Tianwen-1 - 2020 Mars mission
• Exploration of the Moon
• List of missions to the Moon
• Artemis program

External links

• CLEP official website
• Data Release and Information Service System of China's Lunar Exploration Program Шаблон:Webarchive
• Шаблон:Cite web
• Encyclopedia Astronautica
• The Scientific Objectives of Chinese Lunar Exploration Project by Ouyang Ziyuan
• 我国发射首颗探月卫星专题
• 嫦娥探月专题 Шаблон:Webarchive
• Шаблон:Cite journal