On October 15th, during a press briefing held by the State Council Information Office in Beijing, Yang Xiaoyu, the Director of the System Engineering Department at the China National Space Administration (CNSA), shared exciting developments in China’s lunar and planetary exploration plans.
In the pipeline are the Chang’e 7 and Chang’e 8 missions, which aim to explore the lunar south pole and conduct technological verification for lunar resource utilization. These missions are expected to lay the groundwork for a future lunar research station, with plans for comprehensive detection of the Moon’s internal structure through multi-physics fields. This upcoming international lunar research station will engage in various scientific investigations, resource development, and validation of cutting-edge technologies, spanning multiple disciplines and objectives.
Yang elaborated on the ambitious planetary exploration efforts, detailing the Tianwen-2, Tianwen-3, and Tianwen-4 missions. Tianwen-2 will initially orbit an asteroid for comprehensive assessment before returning samples to study asteroid evolution and the early history of the solar system. Tianwen-3 is focused on Mars, aiming to gather samples and investigate the Martian environment. Meanwhile, Tianwen-4 will concentrate on Jupiter and its moons, probing the planet’s structure and uncovering its mysteries.
When asked about the progress in lunar regolith research following China’s sample return missions, Yang highlighted the Chang’e 6 mission, which successfully returned 1,935.3 grams of samples from the far side of the Moon—marking a historic first. Scientists are currently analyzing these samples, having already completed preliminary investigations into their physical and chemical composition, and have gleaned significant insights into the Moon’s early evolution and volcanic activity on its far side. He noted that further studies would follow China’s lunar sample distribution policy.
Yang also spoke about the Chang’e 5 mission, which returned 1,731 grams of lunar soil, representing the youngest lunar samples collected to date. Over the past few years, 131 research institutions in China received a total of 80 grams of these samples, leading to the publication of hundreds of high-level research papers.
In his remarks, Yang emphasized the fascinating discoveries stemming from this research. For instance, scientists have determined that the basalt rock samples from Chang’e 5 are about 2 billion years old, pushing back the timeline for lunar volcanic activity by around 800 million years. Further studies revealed volcanic activity on the Moon as recently as 120 million years ago and showed a slower cooling rate than previously understood.
Additionally, researchers identified a new mineral, subsequently named “Chang’e Stone,” marking the sixth new mineral discovered on the Moon.
