China will send a new lunar probe to the Moon in 2017 - Reuters

BEIJING, December 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –

China plans to launch its second lunar probe, the “Chang’e-5 ‘, in 2017, as announced on Monday the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, after this weekend the probe ‘Chang’e-3′ achieved the first successful landing of a Chinese vehicle on the moon.

this administration spokesman, Wu Zhijian, stated at a press conference held in Pakin that the development of this probe is proceeding smoothly, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

mission ‘Chang’e-3′ has led to the final completion of the second phase of the lunar program in the country, including in-orbit, the moon landing and return to Earth. According to Wu, the lunar program will enter the next stage of sampling and return unmanned missions including ‘Chang’e-5′ and ‘Chang’e-6′.

“The third phase of the program will be more difficult, as they must achieve many significant advances in key technologies such as the launch of the lunar surface, encapsulation of samples, the rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit and re-entry Earth at high speed, which are all new to China, “said Wu.

spokesman has stated that as the probe support ‘Chang’e-3′, the ‘Chang’e-4′ will be adapted to verify technologies for ‘Chang’e-5′. Mission ‘Chang’e-1′ and ‘Chang’e-2′ were conducted in 2007 and 2010, respectively.

second one, launched on October 1, 2010, goes into deep space, is about 65 million miles from Earth and is the first artificial asteroid China.

NEW BASELINE

“The term of the third stage will not mean an end of the lunar program in the country,” he clarified Wu, who has stated that “will be a new starting point.” However, it has indicated that they are still studying the following plans for lunar exploration after they have completed the third phase.

As for deep space exploration, experts have agreed on some points, and scientists are studying and developing integrated plans, he explained.

lunar probe ‘Chang’e-3′ was able to successfully perform a soft landing on Saturday night. The first lunar rover country, who was aboard the lunar probe was separated from the lander early on Sunday and the two were photographed mutual form on the surface of the moon on Sunday night.

Under the program, China has made progress in key technologies, which has allowed the lunar probe pose on the moon and the lunar rover deployed, Wu stressed. “We have established a solid foundation for future deep space exploration,” he added.

POSSIBLE COOPERATION WITH OTHER COUNTRIES

In response to questions about the collaboration with other countries in this area, Wu said that China always maintains a positive attitude in international cooperation in lunar exploration. “We had a very good cooperation with other countries and international organizations in previous missions,” he said.

Data collected through the ‘Chang’e-1′ and ‘Chang’e-2′ probes are available to scientists around the world, the spokesman pointed out.

China shared the information collected by the probe ‘Chang’e-1′ with the European Space Agency (ESA), and a center of aerospace control this and three of its stations telemetry, telecommand and control took part in the mission ‘Chang’e-3′, he explained. “In the next phase of the lunar program will be more international cooperation,” he advance.

“Despite the current progress, China is still far behind the giants of space exploration as the United States and Russia in many ways,” admitted Wu, stressing that the country must “work harder and go further fast. “