China’s Chang’e-7 mission is described as “a huge step toward military and economic lunar domination.”
Just a few months removed from NASA’s record-setting trip around the moon, the party will now abruptly stop.
In April, America’s Artemis II took humans farther away from home than they have ever been, completing a fly-by of the lunar surface that, after several delays, seemed like it was never going to happen.
The size of the crater’s rims create permanently shadowed regions.
Before the end of August, all eyes will be on China as it takes its next stab at lunar exploration with Chang’e-7.
The China National Space Administration is set to launch Chang’e-7. This lunar orbiter will fly equipped with a lander, rover, and mobile probe.
According to Ars Technica, the lander is several times larger than NASA-backed probes that have recently landed on the moon’s surface, most of which have been rather underwhelming.
The culmination of Chinese lunar rovers Yutu (2013) and Yutu-2 (2019), Chang’e-7 has a bold and rather headline-grabbing mission: find water.
