China has been set the year of its arrival to the Moon by 2030, almost a five years after the date initially planned by NASA to put the first woman on the satellite surface. NASA’s plans have been delayed, but China keeps theirs firm; And now the advantage of the United States in the new space race is narrower than ever.
Context. NASA sent 12 men to the moon between 1969 and 1972. The Apollo missions threw themselves with Saturn V, one of the most powerful rockets in history. Astronauts were in a modular ship that orbit the moon, descended to the surface and returned, with different modules.
Unlike the Apollo program, the new Artemisa program raises the return to the moon with a SLS rocket for takeoff, an Orion capsule to orbit the satellite and a huge commercial ship, the Spacex starship, for all aunization. That the starship is not yet ready is one of the reasons for the delay of the Artemis III mission, now scheduled for not before 2027.
Two rockets for two ships. Although its long -term plans are as ambitious as those of the United States (creating a manned lunar base that serves as a springboard for future Martian missions), China plans to take astronauts to the moon with a much simpler architecture than Artemis III.
He will do it with two consecutive releases of the new CZ-10 rocket, of the state company CASC. The first will launch the Mengzhou ship, where three astronauts will go. The second will launch the Lanyue ship, which will travel empty to the orbit of the moon, where it will be attached to the Mengzhou to access two of the three astronauts, which will then descend on it to the surface.
Image published in Baidu that mentions the five launches of the Cz-10 rocket
The Chinese lunar calendar. Although the date of the first mooning was already known, we have just known the road map of the Chinese manned space agency (CMSA) thanks to an image that appears on a Baidu channel that Eureka collects.
According to this filtration, the launch of the first Chinese astronauts who will step on the Moon will be the fifth mission of the CZ-10 rocket. The rocket debut is planned for 2027 in a mission without crew called Y1. The first CZ-10 will predictably launch the first Mengzhou ship to the moon.
Two options. Most likely, the following year, in 2028, China lance another two CZ-10: the Y2 mission with the first Lanyue Empty ship and the Y3 mission with the second Mengzhou ship; In this case, manned by the first Chinese who will orbit the moon.
It would be a general landing essay: the two ships would be attached and decoupled in lunar orbit, with the astronauts present, but Lanyue would go empty to the surface of the satellite to demonstrate that it is safe.
It is also possible that the test is carried out directly next to the Y1 mission, coupling the first Lanyue to the first Mengzhou (both without crew), but it would be risky to try the rocket for the first time with a complete essay, which requires two releases.
The Apollo 11 of China. Finally, not before 2029, but before the end of 2030, the Y4 mission would launch a Lanyue ship already validated for manned alunage. Shortly after, the mission Y5 would launch the Mengzhou ship with three astronauts, including the first two Chinese who will step on the moon.
They will be the Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of China, although expected one of them would be an astronaut; Especially if Artemis III continues to delay and the symbolic milestone of putting the first woman on the moon is still available.
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