15 of April. In the South-West of China in Chongqing on the eve of the exhibition high technologies. This exhibition was presented to the public a new lunar Rover. The device was developed by the Center for space research at the Ministry of education jointly with the State management of defense technology, science and industry of the PRC.
Hanssen Zhang (Deputy chief designer of the Centre for space research) said that the lunar Rover is designed for a crew consisting of two people. The cost of the project on creation of the lunar Rover is not disclosed. Zhang Hanssen only hinted that China is working to establish two more such vehicles.
The designer stressed that the lunar Rover made of durable materials. It is adapted to the movements on bumpy surfaces. For the design of lunar Rover of China used the experience of American research in this area.
Recall that China is the third country after the USA and the USSR, whose spacecraft delivered the Lunokhod on the moon. This event took place on 14 December 2013.
What`s happened with the first Chinese lunar Rover
It was planned that the Chinese lunar Rover on the moon will last for at least three months. However, in late January, China was forced to transfer the unit into sleep mode. When changing modes in the Rover were detected malfunction. Experts were concerned that the Rover could not withstand low temperatures.
On 14 March, the Rover was brought out of sleep mode.
The plans of China to the moon
China plans to explore the moon in three stages. The first phase took place in 2007. During it was successfully launched apparatus "Chang'e-1". In the moon's orbit this spacecraft had worked for 16 months and helped China to make three-dimensional map of the surface of Earth's satellite.
Then, in 2010, the moon was next sent to the research unit "Chang'e-2". His main task was to photograph the places where in the future will be to land these vehicles.
The second phase is dedicated to not only launch vehicles but also landing on the moon. The third stage includes the launch of the spacecraft "Chang'e-5 and Chang'e-6", which is supposed to bring back to Earth rock samples from the moon. It is planned that Chinese astronauts landed on the moon not earlier than 2020.
