China unveiled a more detailed blueprint for the International Lunar Exploration Station (ILRS) during an international conference on deep space exploration held in Tunxi District, east China's Anhui Province. The discussion sparked significant interest among global space agencies and organizations.
During the second International Deep Space Exploration Conference, a two-day space forum, China's space agency and its counterpart in Senegal signed an agreement to cooperate on the ILRS. Additionally, China's Deep Space Exploration Lab has signed memoranda of understanding with 10 organizations from countries including Serbia, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Panama and South Africa.
China mapped out the ILRS initiative in 2017, and many other countries and entities have planned lunar missions over the next few years, including India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.
Recently, Chinese scientists discovered a new type of mineral in a lunar sample brought back by the country's Chang'e-5 lunar mission, which contains water in its molecular structure. Scientists have also revealed the detailed process of extracting up to 76 kilograms of water from one tonne of lunar regolith. Last year, NASA also produced a map of the distribution of water molecules near the moon's south pole.
The discovery of water traces on the moon's surface makes long-term human presence more feasible, which is crucial for conducting extensive lunar research.
"We would like to build a laboratory so that we can extract this water and build something from it," Nasr Al-Sahhaf, the chair of the International Moon Day Group, told CGTN.
An international research station is something for which "many people have waited a long time," said Sandra Hauplik-Meusburger, an academician with the International Academy of Astronautics and also a professor at the Vienna University of Technology in Austria.
"It is also a stepping stone towards space, deep space exploration," she added.
The moon's allure is undeniable, but so are its challenges.
Challenges of having a long-term human presence on the moon
With no atmosphere and only one-sixth of Earth's gravity, the lunar environment is extremely harsh and markedly different from Earth's.
Establishing a lunar research lab with a long-term human presence is a massive and complex undertaking, involving numerous challenges beyond just the lack of gravity and water.
"It is first necessary to overcome the extreme temperatures on the lunar surface, frequent moonquakes, unpredictable micrometeorites, as well as cosmic particle radiation environment," said Zhang Zexu, a professor at the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) and also the director of the research center for deep space exploration at HIT.
Other aspects include lunar surface surveying, material production, resource utilization, energy development, information and communication, architectural design and construction, transportation and maintenance, ecosystem building, and life support.
"So these aspects are still not fully secured, and the technical solutions are just on paper and in the laboratory," said Jan Kolar, the vice president of the Moon Village Association and also a former president of the Czech Space Office. "And this will be, at the moment, the most risky part of any mission to the moon."
HIT's Zhang added that, "Reliable protection strategies must be formulated in response to its complex constraints. This should serve as the foundation for all work carried out."
Global effort
The moon is a tough place to call home. At a major event marking the third International Moon Day observed annually on July 20, global experts and young visionary engineers converged to turn these challenges into stepping stones.
"When you fly into space, you see the Earth as unity, as a home for all of us, and everything becomes interdependent," said Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu, the president of the Space Explorer Association, who is also Romania's first astronaut. "So we have to think globally," he said.
The event also featured the winners of the Moon Station 2050 Global Innovation Competition, a new international initiative co-organized by HIT, the China Aerospace Society and the International Lunar Village Association. With 189 entries from 45 countries, the competition gathered innovative solutions for lunar exploration from the younger generation and showcased their enthusiasm.
These projects address crucial aspects of building a lunar research lab, including transportation to the moon, energy utilization, architecture and construction, robotics and telecommunications.
A team of aeronautical and astronautical engineering students from Tsinghua University designed a system of lightweight robots that can work as a team. "A lot of them can drill inside the lunar soil to explore so that we can acquire comprehensive data about the insightful resources for aiding to construct the moon station," said Chan Nga Teng.
Lucas-Brian Christen, a research student at the University of Tokyo, and his team proposed a new type of thin film solar cells that can be printed directly onto the lunar regolith as a solution for energy utilization with in-situ resources on the moon.
"The moon is part of the Earth, so being able to understand what's happening on the moon, around the moon (and) in between the moon and the Earth is fundamental for all humanity," said Giuseppe Reibaldi, the president of the Moon Village Association.
"And therefore, (on) these issues, you must unite all the countries in the world," Reibaldi said.
Scriptwriter and reporter: Zhao Chenchen
Copy editor: Bhargab Sarmah
Video production: Zhao Yuxiang
Cover image designer: Zhu Shangfan
Producer: Cao Qingqing
Executive Producers: Zhang Jingwen, Wen Yaru