[ad_1]
Fifty years after the first human steps on the moon, the surface of our natural satellite has again sparked interest in space exploration projects.
China has strongly launched this venture by landing Thursday an exploration module on the hidden and still unexplored face of the Moon, a world novelty confirming its status as a space power.
The country had already sent the probe Chang & # 39; e-3 (still in operation) at the end of 2013, which had motorized robot Yutu (Jade Rabbit) on the visible side of the Moon
The probe Chang & # 39; e-4 landed in the Aitken Basin. Equipped with several instruments, including European, his mobile robot Yutu-2 has already begun to move. "Whatever the case may be, the scientific impact will be significant, regardless of the discovery of the Chinese," said Michel Viso, of the French space agency Cnes.
China intends to follow suit and prepare Chang-e-5, a return mission of lunar samples, scheduled for the year 2019.
To date, only three countries have managed to land on the surface of the Moon, about 384,000 kilometers from the Earth: Russia, the United States and China. Twelve American astronauts participated in six missions between 1969 and 1972.
India hopes to join this restricted club by soon sending the Chandrayaan-2 mission, which will include a probe, an Indian exploration module and " A European mini-robot built in the Netherlands, "according to Bernard Foing, astrophysicist at the European Space Agency (ESA).
The mission is to be launched by the Indian Space Agency in February, according to the expert, director of the Working Group on International Lunar Exploration (ILEWG). India sent a first Chandrayaan-1 mission in orbit around the moon in 2008.
Robotic Village
Israel also hopes to participate in the race with a 150 kg Beresheet probe manufactured by the private Israeli company SpaceIL, one of the finalists. in the Google Lunar X Prize International Competition (GLXP)
The competing teams were to produce a mobile robot by March 31, 2018. The competition ended without a winner or a final prize. But SpaceIL continued the challenge. "The goal of the mission is to show that Israel is able to send a mobile robot to the moon to enable it to withstand scientific and cultural burdens," Foing said. [16] 19659013] "The year 2019 will be crucial for lunar exploration," he says. After the missions in orbit around the 2000s, we take a new step. "It's the beginning of a robotic village on the moon, with equipment launched by new countries and different types of actors, including commercials."
Japan plans to send a small lunar probe, called SLIM, to study a specific volcanic area in the lunar Earth between 2020 and 2021
In turn, Russia continues its work on the Luna robotics mission 27 , which should exploit the glaciers of the South Pole with European participation in the coming years.
"Eighth continent".
The United States, which is preparing to celebrate the first steps of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon on July 20, 1969, is also planning the future of their lunar exploration.
In 2017, President Donald Trump signed a directive ordering NASA to return to the moon first before March, relying on the private sector.
A very advanced program, the American Orion spacecraft, manufactured by Lockheed Martin and for which Europe provides the service module, should make an automatic flight around the Moon by 2020.
Then, he will take four astronauts in 2023 for an eight-day round trip around our satellite.
NASA also announced in December that it chose nine private companies to build landing gear and deliver equipment to the moon, where Americans want to send astronauts in a decade.
"It's the eighth continent" on the planet, said Bernard Foing. "We can develop science, technology, international cooperation, use its resources, inspire the public and young people with jobs in the service of humanity," said the astrophysicist.
* AFP
Source link
