ESA and China discuss the possibility of creating a joint base on the moon

Representatives of China and the European Space Agency (ESA) are discussing the possibility of creating a lunar base. Also on the agenda are issues of cooperation in other areas, according to Bloomberg. The leadership of the Chinese space program for the first time held a public discussion on the establishment of a base on the moon.

“The Chinese have a very ambitious moon exploration program,” said Pal Hwistendal, ESA spokesman. “The space industry has changed since the 60s race. We recognize that international cooperation is needed to explore space for peaceful purposes. ” According to the partners, the lunar base can be used as a launching pad for the exploration of Mars, the foundation of a tourist space agency, or even for launching the development of the bowels of a natural satellite of the Earth.

Despite the fact that China has rather late become a space power, now this country is making significant progress in both the exploration of near-Earth space and the study of the moon. China has already launched a number of satellites, delivered a lunar rover of its own design to the moon, developed a launch vehicle and a space truck . Now scientists and engineers of the country are rapidly implementing their earlier plans within the framework of the space program.
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Last week, the Chinese launched a space truck to dock with the now unused module of the Chinese space station. By the end of this year, China plans to send an apparatus to the Moon to collect samples of lunar rocks. Next year, scientists are going to launch a probe on the back side of the Earth satellite to study it and collect samples.

In turn, ESA hopes to conduct a series of analyzes of samples collected by the Chinese. To get these samples will help automatic probe Chang'e-5. According to the plan of the mission, the descent of the apparatus to the moon is planned for the end of November 2017.

The probe is planned to be launched by the Changzheng-5 launch vehicle with the Wenchang space center, which is located on Hainan Island. The mission involves the launch of two modules - orbital and landing. The latter is equipped with an integrated take-off system. The device will be able to collect samples at a depth of 2 meters from the surface. All collected materials, the device will immerse the take-off module in the capsule. The latter, after take-off, will meet in orbit with an orbital module. After docking, soil samples will be overloaded to the return module, which will fly to the Earth and land.