China advances lunar spacesuit, bed rest research for moon landing

China has advanced its push for a crewed moon landing by 2030, with its lunar spacesuit and a bed rest experiment for long-term space stays both progressing, the country's astronaut center said on Saturday.

The development of China's moon-landing spacesuit Wangyu, meaning "gazing into the cosmos," is progressing smoothly, with dozens of key technologies now in place, said Zhang Wanxin, an expert at the Astronaut Center of China, at an aerospace medical engineering conference in north China's Tianjin.

Since development began in 2020, efforts on Wangyu have focused on meeting the demands of complex lunar-surface operations and extreme environmental challenges, Zhang said, noting that the lunar spacesuit is designed to be lightweight, miniaturized, highly efficient and safe.

Beyond spacesuit development, China is also advancing astronaut health research, having completed the "Dixing-3" bed rest experiment to address physiological protection challenges associated with long-term space stays and crewed lunar landing missions.

According to Qu Lina, a center expert, the experiment began in May this year. Volunteers were divided into different groups and spent 15 or 30 days in bed. During the experiment, they completed daily activities such as eating, washing, sleeping, urinating and defecating while lying in bed.

Results showed that the experiment effectively protects the human bone, muscle and cardiovascular systems, and it will provide technical support for long-term space stays and crewed lunar landing missions.