I don't know if it's a coincidence, at the time when the United States officially announced that the spacecraft of the "Intuitive Machine" company had landed on the surface of the moon, China also announced the official name of China's manned lunar exploration vehicle.
According to the global network, in August last year, China's manned space engineering office solicited the name of the manned lunar exploration vehicle from the whole society, which attracted widespread attention and enthusiastic participation from all walks of life, and on the 24th, China officially announced the name of the new generation of manned spacecraft and lunar lander, respectively"Dream Boat" and "Moon".
These two names can be said to be unique expressions of Chinese culture and poetic romance. "Lanyue" is taken from the word "nine days to the moon", which has both *** verses"You can go to the moon for nine days".'s ambition and pride, there is also Li Bai"I want to go to the blue sky and catch the bright moon".The beautiful yearning also contains myths and legends"Nine days to the moon".whimsy.
The new generation of "Mengzhou" spacecraft is a new type of spacecraft developed on the basis of the Shenzhou spacecraft, consisting of a return capsule and a service module. If the Shenzhou series of spacecraft carries the infinite reverie of the Chinese for the vast universe,Then the "Dream Boat" spacecraft not only symbolizes the romantic yearning and expectation of Chinese for the moon, but also symbolizes a new starting point and new journey for China to explore the sea of stars.
Of course, while announcing the name of the lunar spacecraft, China's Manned Space Engineering Office also introduced the lunar mission and related progress. According to the established plan, after Chang'e-5 returns to Earth with lunar soilThe three-step plan of "orbiting, falling, and returning" of China's lunar exploration project has been perfectly concludedThe first manned mission to the moon is planned for 2030.
When it was said that it was good to land on the moon, how did China realize it? At present, the "Mengzhou" and "Lanyue" spacecraft, the Long March 10 carrier rocket, and other major aircraft and equipment have entered the stage of initial sample development, and all work has been carried out smoothly. According to the Office of Manned Space Engineering,China's first manned lunar landing program will also adopt a similar "three-step" strategy:
The two Long March-10 rockets need to first carry the Mengzhou spacecraft and the Lanyue lander to the Earth-Moon transfer orbit, which is the separation point between the rocket and the spacecraft, and its role is equivalent to the highway from the Earth to the Moon.
After that, the "Dream Boat" and "Lanyue" spacecraft will enter the orbit around the moon from here and carry out exchange and docking. According to China's aerospace department, the "Mengzhou" spacecraft has both manned lunar landing and low-earth orbit flight capabilities, and can carry three astronauts to and from the ground and the lunar orbit when performing lunar landing missions; The "Lanyue" lander carries scientific research payloads and lunar rovers to support astronauts to stay on the lunar surface and carry out scientific research.
With the firm confidence of our academicians, after completing the established scientific research tasks, the astronauts will carry the lunar surface samples to the "Lanyue" lander and re-launch and dock with the "Mengzhou" spacecraft, after which the spacecraft will return to the earth from the Earth-Moon transfer orbit.
From the first orbit of Chang'e-1 to the successful landing of Chang'e-3 on the moon, and then to the first manned lunar landing program in 2030, China's manned space mission can be said to be steady and steady, step by step.
However, the American Peregrine Falcon was planted earlier this yearAnd while China is looking to the moon, the United States is not idle. On the 22nd, the U.S. "Intuitive Machine" company announced that the "Odysseus" lander had successfully landed on the surface of the moon in a "sideways" manner, and although the landing attitude was not very "elegant," this was the first time that the United States had landed a spacecraft on the moon in nearly half a century.
In fact, with the fact that China's manned space program has gone farther and farther in recent yearsThe United States, which is afraid that the status of "America first" will not be guaranteed, is "in the eyes and anxious in the heart".In addition to continuously pouring dirty water on China's space missions, the United States has also increased investment in space exploration in the past two years.
However, there is a saying that "I am anxious to eat hot tofu," and the overturning of the "Peregrine Falcon" moon landing program at the beginning of this year proves that the United States wants to "eat a fat man in one bite," which is somewhat whimsical.