Arya News - China is currently making successful progress in preparing for a crewed mission to the Moon, with key mission equipment in the stages of development and prototype testing, Deputy Director of the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) Lin Xiqiang said on Wednesday.
"As of today, all work related to the preparation of the crewed lunar mission is progressing successfully. The Long March-10 launch vehicle, the Mengzhou manned spacecraft, the Lanyue lunar lander, the Wangyu lunar landing spacesuit and the Tansuo manned lunar rover are all undergoing prototype research and development testing as planned," Lin told a press conference. China plans to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030 to carry out scientific research. China"s lunar exploration program, dubbed Chang"e, consists of several phases, including orbiting the Earth"s artificial satellite, landing on the Moon and returning to Earth. The first lunar satellite, Chang"e-1, was launched in 2007 and operated until 2009. The data it collected allowed Chinese scientists to create, among other things, the first heat map of the Moon.