China to pick first moon landing taikonauts from space veterans

(Photo/CCTV)

China will select taikonauts for its first-ever manned moon landing mission from the current pool of taikonauts who have participated in spaceflight missions to the China Space Station, China's first astronaut and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) disclosed during an interview with the People's Daily aired on Monday evening.

Yang Liwei, also the deputy chief designer of China's manned space program, revealed during the interview that the main products commissioned for the country's first-ever manned moon landing mission, including the manned spacecraft Mengzhou, lander, launch vehicle, spacesuits and rover, have entered prototype development stage, various large-scale experiments have also been initiated, and the construction of supporting facilities has begun.

The scientific experiment plans for both the first unmanned flight and the first manned flight have essentially been finalized as well, according to Yang.

According to a press release the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) provided to the Global Times on March 3, the country plans to carry out a manned lunar landing before 2030.

Two carrier rockets will be launched to send a manned spacecraft and a lunar lander into lunar orbit. The spacecraft and lunar lander will rendezvous and dock, and then astronauts will enter the lander. Upon the lander's arrival on the moon's surface, astronauts will drive the lunar rover for scientific exploration, the Xinhua News Agency reported on March 3.

Wu Weiren, the chief designer of China's lunar exploration project, said during the same People's Daily interview that the Chinese people will resolutely deliver the planned lunar missions while underscoring that "our vision is not limited to the moon alone, and we will venture toward the more distant starry skies, such as mars and beyond."

Wu added that there is already a schedule for the country's Mars sample return mission, and it will not take too long to be carried out, likely within a few years.

Sun Zezhou, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) and a senior researcher at China's leading space contractor, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), previously revealed on the sidelines of the two sessions that China aims to carry out a Mars sample return mission around 2030.

The deputy chief of China's manned space program also stated that the payload experts from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs) are currently undergoing training at the Astronaut Center of China, preparing for future missions, in response to an inquiry concerning the fourth batch of taikonaut candidate selection.

Yang also expected more international cooperation in the field of manned space following the recent announcement that China and Pakistan had exchanged a cooperation agreement on spaceflight of a Pakistani astronaut to the China Space Station.

The selection process will last about a year, with the Pakistani astronauts undergoing comprehensive and systematic training in China, according to Xinhua.

"All of this demonstrates how the rapid development of our manned space program is driven by the comprehensive strength of our nation's technological and economic progress," Yang said.