Chang'e-6 returned from sampling from the Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon, and the mainland has also announced follow-up space missions.
For example, the Chang'e-7 mission, which will be launched in 2026, and the Chang'e-8 mission, which will be launched around 2028.
What people didn't expect was that the follow-up Chang'e series of lunar exploration missions also ended up at the south pole of the moon.
This also makes people wonder, what secrets are hidden at the south pole of the moon? Why do Chinese probes go there?
Let's find out!
1. The mysterious south pole of the moon
Although Chang'e-6 went to the far side of the moon this time, its landing site was still within the range of the moon's south pole.
Taking the Aitken Basin, which landed this time, as an example, the study believes that about 4 billion years ago, there was a violent impact, and a large amount of lunar mantle material was ejected to the lunar surface, and the samples brought back by Chang'e-6 sampling this time are this part of the material.
In addition, scientists are interested in the south pole of the moon because it is located in a permanent shadow zone, where although it is dark, it is very likely that there is something that humans are most looking forward to discovering: water ice.
What is water ice? To put it simply, it is to love consolidated ice at low temperatures.
On Earth, water ice is common, for example, in winter when the temperature is low enough, some flowing waterfalls will be consolidated.
But on the moon, water ice is a very mysterious thing, although as early as more than 10 years ago, American scientists had speculated that there is water ice in the lunar polar regions, especially in 2018, American scientists even claimed that through the analysis of the "near-infrared absorption spectrum" of the lunar polar regions, they believed that they had found traces of water ice.
But in fact, whether there is water ice at the south pole of the moon is still an unsolved mystery, but the mainstream view of the scientific community is, of course, if you want to turn the conjecture into reality, you need to go to the south pole of the moon for a field trip.
The scientific community believes that water ice is widely distributed in the polar regions of the moon, especially in the permanent shadow area of the moon's south pole, so this time Chang'e-6 went there to take samples, and it is expected to solve this mystery through subsequent scientific research.
and the follow-up Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8 missions are also going to the south pole of the moon, also to detect water ice and establish a scientific research base at the south pole of the moon.
Including whether we can build factories, cities, and tourist centers on the moon in the future, it depends on how much water ice there is at the south pole of the moon and whether it is easy to exploit and utilize, because the existence of water ice not only means that human beings can live on the moon for a long time when the scientific and technological conditions are mature, but also means that human beings can use the moon as a transit station for space exploration and can launch rockets on the moon, because water ice can be converted into rocket fuel through decomposition.
So what will be the main tasks of the follow-up Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8?
2. The follow-up mission of the Chang'e series
The mission focus of Chang'e-7 is to focus on exploring the environment and resources of the moon's south pole, and to conduct an all-round resource perception of the situation of the entire moon's south pole.
The focus of Chang'e-8's mission is to establish a basic scientific research station at the south pole of the moon, so that by 2030, we will carry out a manned landing on the moon, and our astronauts will go to the moon, and we can better conduct scientific research.
After 2030, we will also upgrade the basic type of the lunar scientific research station to the complete type of the lunar scientific research station, and eventually realize the permanent and regular rotation of astronauts on the moon like the Chinese space station.
Therefore, whether the follow-up mission can be successfully completed depends on whether this study of Chang'e-6 lunar soil can bring us enough surprises, and on the other hand, it depends on what it can find at the south pole of the moon after the launch of Chang'e-7 in 2026.
Like Chang'e-6, Chang'e-7 is also an international cooperation project, and six countries have now been set to cooperate.
The same is true for the follow-up Chang'e-8, because the scientific research station that the mainland wants to establish on the moon is itself an international scientific research station, especially after the complete type is established, more and more countries will want to apply to participate in it.
After all, looking at the world, the vast majority of countries do not have the ability to independently explore the moon, so if you want to "get a piece of the pie" on the moon, you need to hug the thighs of China's aerospace.
Today, the world's first space echelon is China, the United States and Russia.
Among them, Russia has long been unable to play the space project on his own because of funding and other reasons, but in Russia's hands, there are still some space technologies worth learning from, coupled with Sino-Russian relations, so many follow-up projects of China's aerospace industry, including the lunar scientific research station project, are also in cooperation with Russia.
As for the United States, a series of lunar projects now being carried out on the mainland are also what the United States wants to carry out, but there is a dilemma of technological regression in the US aerospace industry, and now it is difficult to launch a lunar probe, let alone return to the moon.
Therefore, the moon in the future is bound to be dominated by China, of course, China has never wanted to engage in lunar colonization, and our lunar exploration is also for better development and the future of all mankind. What do you think about this?