After Chang’e 6, the Chang’e 7 robotic probe will be sent to land on the moon’s South Pole to perform “high-precision investigations”, Wu said.
“The Chang’e 7 mission is meant to look for traces of water on the South Pole, investigate the environment and weather there, and survey the landform. The probe will carry a ‘flyby craft’ tasked with flying into pits on the lunar surface to look for ice,” the scientist said.
“Chang’e 7 will also be tasked with detecting the natural resources beneath the lunar South Pole’s surface. Mission planners are trying to assess if we can use the probe to dig into the surface and study underground structures and their composition,” he said.
In the long run, scientists will use components of the three upcoming missions — the orbiters, landers, rovers and sensors — to form the prototype of a robotic scientific outpost, which will act as a platform for international collaboration on lunar exploration, he added.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 