China plans to build a nuclear base on the moon by 2028
China plans to have its first base on the moon by 2028 before landing astronauts there in subsequent years, as the country ramps up its challenge to NASA’s dominance in space exploration.
The lunar base is likely to be nuclear powered, Caixin reported. Its basic configuration will consist of a lander, hopper, orbiter and rover, all of which would be built by the Chang’e 6, 7 and 8 missions.
“Our astronauts will probably be able to fly to the moon within 10 years,” Wu Weiran, chief designer of China’s lunar exploration program, said in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV earlier this week. Nuclear energy can meet the lunar station’s long-term energy needs with high output, he said.
China has ramped up its space ambitions in recent years, sending probes to the moon, building its own space station and targeting Mars. The plans have put it in direct competition with the US. NASA has a rover on the Red Planet and is attempting to return astronauts to the Moon this decade for the first time since the Apollo program ended in the 1970s.
Both China and the US are spending billions of dollars not only to put people on the moon, but also to access resources that could support life on the lunar surface or send spacecraft to Mars.
In 2019, China became the first country to land a rover on the far side of the moon and later brought back its first lunar samples. The base is said to be the first outpost at the moon’s south pole, an area that scientists believe is the best place to find water. NASA is also targeting this part of the moon. China ultimately wants to expand the base into an international research station.
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