NASA asks for the loan of a Chinese probe: we have an American mission

US astronauts have requested permission to use the Chinese satellite Chang-e-4 and the communication satellite "Queqiao" to help them plan a special US mission off the moon, announced Tuesday a scientist of the Chinese lunar exploration project.

NASA scientists have made this request at an international conference for several years, according to the Central China Television Television Network (CCTV).

US scientists have asked China to extend the stay of the communication satellite "Queqiao" and to set up an American bacon on the Chang-e-4 spacecraft, adding that it would help them plan the strategy of 39, landing on the moon.

Bacon is a small wireless device that uses low-power Bluetooth technology to send a small packet of data over the air.

The communication satellite, called "Queqiao" or "Magpie Bridge", is a satellite that tracks and migrates data in order to establish a connection between the Earth and the lunar probe Chang-e-4, at a distance more than 400,000 km (250,000). Mile).

China has developed the "Queqiao" satellite, because landing on the dark side of the moon is a daunting challenge because any spacecraft loses contact with the ground as soon as it reaches that area.

NASA had previously refused to send a mission to the dark side of the moon, arguing that it could not communicate with its probe and that astronauts could not send signals to the Earth.

Queqiao played an important role in the historical landing of the Chinese Chang-e-4 probe on the dark side of the moon on Jan. 3.

According to the official Chinese media, the United States of America was among the six countries that had cooperated with China as part of its lunar exploration project, as well as Germany, Sweden, the United States, and the United States. Netherlands and Saudi Arabia.

Chinese space scientists said on Monday that Beijing had exchanged landing data with NASA, while the US space agency had issued no statement on cooperation.

In 2011, the US Congress passed a law restricting Sino-US cooperation in space exploration and it was unclear whether China's sharing of landing data with NASA constituted a violation of the ban.

"We have always wanted to measure the impact of meteorites on the moon and this time we have a great opportunity," he said. "The United States wants to take advantage of this opportunity and we are ready to work with them."

He explained that China views the lunar project as a contribution to humanity after the centuries-long delay of scientific and technological development of the West.

The National Space Administration of China announced on Monday that Beijing would send a probe on Mars by 2020 and plans to send a spacecraft Chang-e-5 in the near-moon part of China. Here the end of this year.

China has invited international scientists to cooperate in the framework of its space station, which should be completed by 2022.

In the United States, the Apollo 11 spacecraft was the first manned mission to land on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

The United States remains the only country to have successfully conducted human missions on the moon and was the last to leave the moon in December 1972.