Chang'e-6 successfully completed the world's first lunar sampling, and the results have attracted the world's attention. Its successor, Chang'e-7, is scheduled to be launched around 2026 and will still go to the Aitken Basin at the south pole of the moon, whose main mission is to carry out environmental and resource exploration at the south pole of the moon and lay the foundation for the construction of a lunar scientific research station.
Chang'e-7 includes an orbiter, a lander, a rover, a spacecraft and a relay satellite. The rover is a lunar rover that can move freely on the surface of the moon, and in 2022, it was rumored that it planned to carry the "Rashid II" lunar rover developed by the United Arab Emirates, but later it was yellow under the intervention of the United States, and the Chang'e-7 lunar rover will be developed by the mainland. It will form the basic model of the lunar South Pole scientific research station with scientific exploration instruments such as orbiters and landers, and Chang'e-8, which will be launched around 2028.
In addition to the mainland's self-developed instruments and equipment, Chang'e-7 will also carry six payloads from seven countries and international organizations: Egypt, Bahrain, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand and the International Association of Lunar Astronomical Observatories.
Among them, the Chang'e-7 lander will be equipped with an Italian laser corner reflector array, a lunar dust and electric field detector developed by Russia, and a moon-based astronomical observation telescope developed by the International Association of Lunar Astronomical Observatories, all three of which will be placed on the lunar surface at the south pole of the moon. Speaking of laser corner reflector arrays, the Chang'e-6 lander carries an array of laser corner reflectors provided by Italy, which can support high-precision measurements of the lunar surface and orbit determination and navigation of orbiters.
The other three international payloads will be carried on the orbiter, namely the Lunar Surface Mass Hyperspectral Imager jointly developed by Egypt and Bahrain, the Moon-based Dual-Channel Earth Radiation Spectrometer developed by Switzerland, and the Space Weather Global Monitoring and Sensing Device developed by Thailand. The lunar orbiter essentially orbits the moon, similar to such a platform of artificial earth satellites, which is mainly used to explore and observe the moon and provide communication support services for the lander.
Among the instruments and equipment carried by Chang'e-7, the mainland's self-developed spacecraft and the moon-based astronomical observation telescope developed by the International Association of Lunar Astronomical Observatories are the highlights.
The Moon-based Astronomical Observation Telescope will be used to carry out moon-based observations of the Milky Way, Earth, and panoramic sky. This should be an optical telescope, but its aperture should not be too large, because Chang'e-7 has requirements for load mass and volume, and it is too big to carry. Still, it's powerful, because it will be the first astronomical telescope to be deployed on the moon.
The moon has the advantages of no atmosphere, small magnetic field, long rotation period, and low moonquake intensity, making it an ideal place for astronomical observation. Putting the telescope on the moon does not have the unfavorable factors such as atmospheric disturbance and water vapor refraction that the astronomical telescope on the earth is subjected to, and the background of the entire lunar sky is always black, which can reduce the interference of the sun and observe the stars for a long time.
As for the spacecraft, it is mounted on top of the Chang'e-7 lander and is the first probe to fly over the lunar surface, making history as the first flyby of the moon. The United States once sent a small drone to Mars, and now we have to get it on the moon. It's just that there is no air on the moon, and drones that rely on buoyancy cannot be used, and at the moment only vehicles with other powers can be used.
The Chang'e-7 spacecraft will be used to explore "permanently shadowed areas" where sunlight cannot reach the moon's south pole, where water ice resources may be present.
Instead of using chemical fuel, the spacer uses electricity to drive multiple mechanical legs to make a bouncing leap that resembles a spider, and may also rely on mechanical legs to move the lunar surface. It can be fully charged with solar energy before each use. It has the ability to repeatedly take off and land on the lunar surface and be used many times, and can plan the flight path with the help of the orbiter microwave imaging radar, and has stronger obstacle avoidance ability and terrain adaptability than the lunar rover. Compared with previous lunar rovers and landers, the spacecraft has a wider range of speculation, and it can fly directly into the permanent shadow area in the impact crater for detection, obtain direct evidence of the existence of water ice, and establish a permanent base for human beings to establish a permanent base at the south pole of the moon in the future.
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