As India prepares to land on the Moon in the first three months of 2019 — preparations for Chandrayaan-2 have gathered steam in the past few weeks — China, according to reports in the official media, is planning to put man-made moons in space by 2022.
As per reports in the Chinese media, Beijing has already conceived a man-made moon, which is expected to be realised in 2022. The Science and Technology Daily reported that China has plans for at least three man-made moons, which can reflect sunlight on to the pre-decided areas any time of the day.
Reports quoted Wu Chunfeng, head of Tianfu New District System Science Research Institute in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, as saying: “ ... These three huge mirrors will divide the 360-degree orbital plane, realizing illuminating an area for 24 hours continuously.”
He allayed fears of such a technology affecting the natural day-night cycle by saying that the illumination from these mirrors can be controlled.
Meanwhile, Isro is working overtime to achieve the launch of Chandrayaan-2 in early 2019, even as some challenges are yet to be overcome. Earlier in the month, a key payload on the Lander — now named Vikram after Vikram Sarabhai, the father of Indian space programme — left the Space Application Centre (SAC) in Ahmedabad for UR Rao Satellite Centre in Bengaluru for testing and integration.
Also, just last week, a cryo engine of the GSLV MK-III, which will be used to launch Chandrayaan-2, completed a crucial heat test. However, there is still a lot of work before Isro can launch the second mission to Moon.
Chandrayaan-2, unlike the first mission, involves a Lander soft-landing on the lunar surface and unloading a Rover to study and take measurements from the Moon, while the orbiter will go around the Earth’s satellite.
from Times of India https://ift.tt/2AiRSUJ
