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Perspectives on China’s Manned Lunar Scientific Research and Test Station

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Abstract

China's lunar exploration efforts have been focused on developments in space that are sustainable. To this end, the country plans to construct a manned lunar scientific research station after successfully landing on the Moon, with the aim of ensuring long-term human survival on the lunar surface and developing and utilizing lunar resources. To achieve this goal, extensive research has been conducted on the development plans and current situation of manned lunar exploration. Based on the development law of human deep-space exploration, a goal of verifying human long-term, extraterrestrial survival technology and addressing challenges, while carrying out in-depth scientific research on the Moon and exploring its resources, is proposed. After analyzing the difficulties and development trends of the station's construction, possible incremental development plans and paths for the future are discussed. Considering the four major elements of strategy, science, engineering, and economics, and focusing on the safety requirements of manned spaceflight, a preliminary idea for selecting the station location is proposed. Finally, six key technologies and challenges are analyzed with the development plan. Overall, China's commitment to lunar exploration reflects its dedication to advancing scientific knowledge and technological capabilities, while also contributing to the long-term sustainability of human presence in space.

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The data used in the study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgement

We would highly appreciate the excellent contributions from our colleagues at China Astronauts Research and Training Center, and China Academy of Space Technology to this study.

Funding

This study was not funded by any grants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. China Astronauts Research and Training Center, Beijing, 100094, China

    Qibo Peng & Lei Xing

  2. Beijing Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering, Beijing, 100094, China

    Ping Wang

Authors
  1. Qibo Peng
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  2. Ping Wang
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  3. Lei Xing
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Contributions

QP and PW investigated the problem, contributed the main idea, and wrote the initial draft of the paper. LX contributed to refining the ideas, reviewing and finalizing the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Qibo Peng.

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The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

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This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Additional information

This is an English language translation of “Perspectives on China’s Manned Lunar Scientific Research and Test Station” originally published in Journal of Astronautics [1]. Permission was granted by all author and Journal of Astronautics.

The original online version of this article was revised: there was an error in the footnote on page 1.

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Peng, Q., Wang, P. & Xing, L. Perspectives on China’s Manned Lunar Scientific Research and Test Station. Adv. Astronaut. Sci. Technol. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42423-024-00155-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42423-024-00155-1

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