🌕Chang’e 7 lunar rover & hopper mission CG. Chang’e 7’s hopper will explore ice in permanently shadowed craters at South Pole of the moon in 2026, after Chang’e 6 far side lunar soil return mission in 2024. Full HD:
Illustration of the Lunar Research Station prototype formed by Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8
Some interesting detail on the flying water mining probe China will use on its 2026 Chang'e 7 mission 🧊- The mini-probe will takeoff from an area with lunar light and fly into a permanently dark impact crater- The probe will then drill into potential water-ice to retrieve samples- A mechanical arm will move the samples to an onboard heating furnace for analysis- The in-situ analyzer will determine the presence of water ice- The tool can take drill numerous samples at different depths. Note: the paper on this was published in March but China's state media just reported it today.
Research of Lunar Water-Ice and Exploration for China’s Future Lunar Water-Ice ExplorationYINGZHUO JIA, ZHANLAN ZHANG , LANG QIN, TAO MA, BOHAN LV, ZHONGLIANG FU, CHANGBIN XUE, AND YONGLIAO ZOUSPACE: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY29 Mar 2023Vol 3Article ID: 0026DOI: 10.34133/space.0026AbstractSince the 1990s, the existence of water-ice in the permanent shadow areas of the lunar polar regions and the problem of water in the early lunar period have become the hot spot of international lunar exploration. This paper analyzes the research progress and existing problems of lunar water-ice detection in recent years. Based on the analysis of expected foreign lunar water-ice exploration missions, the major scientific problems of lunar water-ice are analyzed. From different exploration methods, this paper tentatively puts forward the scientific tasks, payload configuration, functional requirements, and possible scientific outputs of water-ice in China's future lunar exploration projects, which can provide reference for future lunar exploration missions.
Apparently this includes Russian science instruments on Chang'e 7:
China and Russia have jointly announced to continue pushing forward the construction of an International Lunar Research Station (#ILRS), boosting cooperation between China’s #Change7 lunar polar exploration mission and Russia’s #LUNA26 moon mission.(Photo Credit：Roscosmos/CFP）
Following a meeting b/w Premier Li Qiang and Russian PM Mishustin Dec. 19, China & Russia agree to continue to promote ILRS, support cooperation b/w Chang'e-7 & LUNA-26, and for Chang'e-7 lander to carry Russian science payloads mp.weixin.qq.com/s/XRLDRlfUQ5yS…
PARIS — The United Arab Emirates will fly its Rashid 2 rover on China’s 2026 Chang’e-7 lunar landing mission following an agreement between the two countries.
It was an honor for our Firefly leaders to meet @HamdanMohammed and solidify our partnership with @MBRSpaceCentre. We're looking forward to flying the Rashid 2 Rover to the Moon on our next #BlueGhost mission.
