China has been working hard and fast to accomplish its mission to set up a human base camp on the Moon. It has already unveiled its plan for building the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) near the Moon’s south pole. This project is being jointly led by Russia and China. The plan is to launch five super heavy-lift rockets from 2030 to 2035 that would contain resources for constructing such a massive structure.
The mission will roll out in two phases, as informed by Wu Yanhan, China’s major deep space exploration programme, during an event on September 5. The basic version of the base will be completed by 2035, and the base will undergo further development until 2050. Many international launches, including the Chang’e-7 and 8, are scheduled to lift off in this decade, with the earliest launch in 2026.
The Moon base will be able to conduct scientific research within a 100km (62-mile) radius of the lunar south pole. The network of research facilities will expand from the south pole to the equator and far side by 2050.
The ILRS will be a “comprehensive lunar station network that utilizes the lunar orbit station as its central hub and the south pole station as its primary base, and it will include exploration nodes on the lunar equator and the far side of the Moon,” said Wu Weiren, the chief designer of the Sino lunar program, according to state media outlet Xinhua. Interestingly, China believes that after the completion of ILRS, the station will also help build the foundation for further crewed landings on Mars.
China plans to work with 50 countries on this mission, and in that direction, it already has partnered with 13 nations—Russia, Venezuela, Belarus, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, South Africa, Egypt, Nicaragua, Thailand, Serbia, Kazakhstan, and the latest being the country of Senegal. ILRS is being seen as a rival to the US’s ambitious Artemis program, which makes this lunar colonization competitive and interesting.
Wu Weiren said at another event, “So far, we have signed agreements with more than 10 countries and nearly 30 international research institutions. We hope to work with 50 countries by inviting 500 foreign scientific research institutions, and 5,000 foreign scientific research personnel to jointly build our international lunar scientific research station.”
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CREDIT: – The TIMES OF INDIA
