A diverse volcanic region on the moon’s near side could become the landing site for China’s first manned lunar mission, according to a new study.
China aims to land its first astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade. Over the past year, the nation has been testing hardware for this ambitious endeavor, including simulations of lunar landing and launch and crew spacecraft disruptions and rocket tests. Now, a team of scientists has carried out a detailed assessment of a priority landing area for candidates, providing new insight into the planning of the historic mission – and its potential scientific payoff.
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Rimae Bode is located near the volcanic plains of Sinus Aestuum on the near side of the moonnot far north of the lunar equator, and is one of 14 potential astronaut touchdown sites selected from the initial 106 candidates. These needed to meet technical constraints for a safe lunar landing, including being on the near side for communications purposes, relatively flat terrain, and being at a low latitude to ensure enough power from the sun.
According to the researchers, the Rimae Bode region also provides access to several types of lunar material within a relatively small area, including ancient lava flows, grooves – long, narrow, channel-like features formed by ancient lava flows – and ejecta from nearby craters. As the assignment will include a rover without pressuredifferent geological units will be available to the astronauts for sampling. Overall, the researchers identified four possible landing sites in the region, each with slightly different sample priorities.
The Rimae Bode region stands out as a prime candidate for China’s first crewed landing, as it is a “geological museum,” blending scientific potential and engineering certainty, Huang said Space.com. “It offers a diverse landscape of volcanic plains and ancient highlands, allowing astronauts to sample everything from volcanic ash erupted from the deep lunar interior to debris from massive ancient impacts within a single pass,” Huang said.
Perhaps most excitingly, Rimae Bode could offer insight into the moon’s deep interior.
“The most groundbreaking discovery from the Rimae Bode region is likely to come from the dark mantle deposits, which consist of volcanic ash and glass beads violently erupted from the Moon’s deep interior billions of years ago,” Huang said. “These samples act as ‘messengers’ from the lunar mantle, offering a rare opportunity to analyze the chemical composition of the moon’s deep heart directly – information that is usually hidden under miles of crust.”
Examining this material, along with that from the region’s complex network of lava channels, could help scientists reconstruct the moon’s volcanic history. Samples could tell us how the moon cooled and what triggered its most massive eruptions. “This would change our understanding of not only the history of the Moon, but how all rocky planets, including Earth, cooled and evolved after their birth,” Huang said.
Huang noted that the astronauts selected for the mission must undergo intensive geological training before landing. China’s astronaut corps recently completed analog training in a cave environment in preparation for future lunar missions.
“Astronauts act as our expert eyes and hands on the ground,” the scientist said, noting that they must distinguish ordinary rocks from “scientific gold,” such as tiny volcanic glass beads that may hold clues about the moon’s deep interior. Strong training will help them find important clues hidden among otherwise ordinary gray rocks, identify the best places to place sensitive scientific instruments and navigate difficult terrain, Huang said.
Huang did not reveal the next steps in selecting a site for China’s first manned lunar landing mission, but the process will continue, including the expected launch of a dedicated lunar remote sensing satellite to provide additional data. And the next generation Mengzhou spacecraft could have its first full orbital flight later this year, on the new Long March 10A rocket.
When China’s astronauts land on the moon, they will not be just visitors, but rather detectives in deep space looking to solve geological mysteries, Huang said.
