by Benson Agoha | Technology
China plans to expand it's Moon missions, after successfully probing mars with Yutu, sent to the Lunar planet two years ago.
Yutu was laden with the latest technological equipment to enable it carry out far-reaching probe of Mars, which included ground-penetrating radar, able to probe up to 100 metres beneath the lunar surface - to analyse soil compositions and other independent scientific research set for it.
China's first unmanned lunar probe to the moon two years ago was part of its Chang'e-3 mission.
But in 2017, China will start the third phase of its lunar exploration by launching the Chang'e-5 spacecraft, which plans to land on the moon and return with soil samples.
Also by 2020, the year it hopes to land on Mars, China will launch a spacecraft to the moon's "dark side" -- a mission, which, if successful, would make it the first country to do so.
Experts say a major challenge facing Chinese space scientists is to keep communication between the Mars probe and its earth-bound handlers open and efficient, as the great distance between the two planets is likely to reduce signal strength.
The longest distance would be 400 million kilometers -- 900 times of that between the earth and the moon -- and it would take about 40 minutes for the rover to get in touch with the command station on earth, Xinhua reported.
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| * Yutu seen from the Lunnar Recconnaisance Orbiter Camera). Though the robot is now stationery, its sensors continue to work. |
The robot which was equipped with state-of-the-art sensors had high aim on arrival, but it suffered an abnormally shortly after it went silent.
Yutu was laden with the latest technological equipment to enable it carry out far-reaching probe of Mars, which included ground-penetrating radar, able to probe up to 100 metres beneath the lunar surface - to analyse soil compositions and other independent scientific research set for it.
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China's first unmanned lunar probe to the moon two years ago was part of its Chang'e-3 mission.
But in 2017, China will start the third phase of its lunar exploration by launching the Chang'e-5 spacecraft, which plans to land on the moon and return with soil samples.
Also by 2020, the year it hopes to land on Mars, China will launch a spacecraft to the moon's "dark side" -- a mission, which, if successful, would make it the first country to do so.
Experts say a major challenge facing Chinese space scientists is to keep communication between the Mars probe and its earth-bound handlers open and efficient, as the great distance between the two planets is likely to reduce signal strength.
The longest distance would be 400 million kilometers -- 900 times of that between the earth and the moon -- and it would take about 40 minutes for the rover to get in touch with the command station on earth, Xinhua reported.
* CIIF (China Industrial International Fair) contributed to this report.
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