China's Lunar module will fly unmanned first

The Chinese Lunar module will go on an unmanned rehearsal flight before the first crewed mission. With this step, China is preparing for its first crewed Moon mission. However, crewed landings are planned to be made by 2030. Therefore, unmanned testing will be the first phase of the plan.

The information is based on statements by Chinese manned space program officials appearing on CCTV News. The lunar lander will be tested in the test. In addition, the main stages of the expedition will be rehearsed, from orbit entry to surface landing, takeoff and redocking. Thus, all steps of the process will be tested before the crewed mission.

China Lunar Module Will Set Off with Two Rockets

According to the plan, two Long March 10 (Çanczheng-10) rockets will be used in the mission. First of all, the first rocket will launch the lunar landing module. Then the second rocket will carry the Mengzhou crew ship. The vehicles will meet and dock when they reach lunar orbit.

Mengzhou was designed to carry three astronauts between Earth and lunar orbit. However, the landing module will only be able to land and return two people to the surface. Therefore, the Chinese Lunar module will be the vehicle that will undertake surface travel in the crewed program.

Test in Earth Orbit First

China wants to test critical technologies step by step. First, with the Earth orbit version of Long March 10, the Mengzhou ship will make a flight to low orbit. Thus, the basic features of the rocket will be tested. At the same time, the ship's atmospheric entry and return systems will also be tested.

After this stage, it will be the turn of the Moon version rocket and spacecraft. Wang Xiang, deputy chief engineer of the program, said that two principles were adhered to in the preparation. First of all, technologies that can be tested in low Earth orbit will be tested in the orbital station program. Operations involving human transportation will be tried in unmanned mode first, if possible. Therefore, the Chinese Lunar module will also be tested with this rehearsal logic.

What Data Will Be Collected on the Lunar Surface?

In the unmanned flight, the Chinese Lunar module will collect data directly on the Moon. These include:

surface temperature

Properties of moon dust

Operating information of in-vehicle systems

In addition, the vehicle will complete all main stages without a crew. That means it will enter lunar orbit, dock with Mengzhou, and land. It will then rise from the surface and rejoin the ship.

Additionally, the Chinese Piloted Space Flight Office announced a call on October 22. The call collects applications for scientific and technological experiments that can be carried out with the resources of the landing module in an unmanned mission. On the other hand, short-term surface stay, movement on the Moon, sample collection and scientific research are planned in the crewed program. Therefore, experimental applications for the Chinese Lunar module are already being collected. The astronauts will then return to Earth, and the target date is 2030.