China plans to build lunar base using moon soil by this decade
Recently Chinese scientists and researchers have met to discuss ways to build infrastructure on the Moon.
- This infrastructure will be made habitable for long duration lunar and space missions.
- A team of scientists is designing a ‘Chinese super mason’ robot to make bricks from lunar soil.
- In addition, China aims to obtain soil samples from the far side of the Moon around 2025, a world first.
- Several countries, including India, have shown renewed interest in exploration of the Moon. These countries are planning lunar missions in the coming years.
Names of some future Lunar Missions: Artemis (NASA), Chandrayaan-3 (India), Chang’e (China), Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (Korea), Luna 25 (Russia) and SLIM (Japan).
Causes of renewed interest in lunar exploration
- Economic: Helium-3 is abundant on the Moon. It is a potential fuel for nuclear fusion. Helium-3 is an isotope of the element helium.
- Serve as a base for future space exploration: to test how life reacts to the harsh conditions of space.
- Study the Earth: Since the Moon and the Earth share a common past, studying the Moon can help us better understand volcanic activity and seismic activity on Earth.
Source – Indian Express
