After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union launched a competition in the space field. 1995, the Soviet union led the United States in the space field. They took the lead in sending man-made satellites and several detectors to the moon. However, with several setbacks in the Soviet heavy rocket program and the unfortunate death of korolev, the core scientist of Soviet space, the Soviet Union was finally defeated in the moon landing war.
However, we have to admit that the Soviet Union has rich experience in the field of long-term manned spaceflight relying on the "Salute" series and the "Peace" international space station project. Up to now, Russian astronauts still hold the world record of staying in space for the longest time and leaving the cabin the most times. China's manned space flight started late, and it was unable to participate in the use of the International Space Station for many reasons. Therefore, Russia's valuable experience is of great significance to solve the permanent presence of future lunar orbit space stations and lunar scientific research stations.
Earlier, Russia announced a new generation of manned moon landing plan, which indicated that Russian astronauts would complete the moon landing in 20031year. But Russia's moon landing plan faces three biggest problems:
No money, no money, no money.
At present, Russia's new generation of manned spacecraft is only sketches and models, and Russia lacks heavy rockets capable of carrying dozens of tons of weight into lunar orbit. Now it seems that the cost of landing on the moon will not be less than $30 billion, while the budget of the Russian Space Agency in 20 17 is only $3 billion. It is very difficult to complete the moon landing plan by Russia alone.
At present, although China's space technology still lags behind the United States, it is still in the forefront of the world. Among them, four technological breakthroughs that Russia is extremely lacking have also become the cornerstone of Sino-Russian cooperation in landing on the moon.
Lunar back detection and communication relay
Because of the tidal locking between the moon and the earth, one side of the moon always faces the earth. This makes the communication between the detector on the back of the moon and the earth blocked by the moon itself, which is also the main reason for limiting the detection on the back of the moon.
However, China used the "Queqiao" communication relay satellite to make Yutu-2 probe continuously detect on the back of the moon. Although the United States successfully carried out the Apollo moon landing program, the back of the moon is still a virgin land. If the exploration mission of manned landing on the moon can be completed on the back of the moon, it will not be a simple repetition of the existing achievements of the space industry, but a brand-new pioneering work of great significance.
Autonomous docking of lunar orbit
The Soviet Union launched several recoverable lunar probes, all of which brought back only a small amount of lunar soil. In the final analysis, the Soviet Union did not master the autonomous docking technology of the lunar orbiter. Compared with China's plan of collecting lunar soil with a combination of elevator and lander, docking in orbit, and then transporting lunar soil with a returner, the Soviet way is much simpler and rougher. Due to the lack of automation technology, their ascenders returned directly to Earth. Although the amount of lunar soil brought back dropped sharply, it avoided docking in lunar orbit.
At present, China's Chang 'e-5 lunar probe has made a breakthrough in unmanned docking technology in space, making up for the Russian disadvantage in automatic control. It laid a foundation for the unmanned construction of the international scientific moon station and the cargo replenishment task of unmanned spacecraft in the future.
New generation manned spaceship
At present, from a global perspective. China, the United States, the Russian Federation and Space X all put forward their own next-generation manned spacecraft. In addition to space X, the other three next-generation manned spacecraft have considered possible future missions to the moon.
However, judging from the progress, the American Orion spacecraft is seriously behind schedule, and the Russian "Federation" spacecraft has not even been built. Last year, China's new generation of manned spacecraft completed its flight test mission and conducted an orbital airdrop experiment.
Not only that, according to the news released by Lockheed Martin, the final total cost of the Orion project is expected to be 21700 million US dollars, far exceeding the expectations of the United States, which is also the reason why the Orion spacecraft is currently at a standstill. Such a huge demand for funds is an impossible task for Russia at present, so cooperation with China in the moon landing program will help Russia save money and turn to the research and development of lunar scientific research stations and space stations around the moon.
Heavy rocket technology
Earlier, Russia proposed the "Yenisei River" super-heavy launch vehicle that can transport 27 tons of materials to the lunar orbit, and plans to conduct a test launch in 2028. However, at the beginning of this year, the Russian media announced that the "Yenisei River" rocket plan was officially dismounted, and it will no longer provide funds for this project in the future.
In addition to the Yenisei rocket, the new heavy rocket being developed in Russia is called angara a5. The rocket is very similar to China's Long March 5. Its near-earth orbit carrying capacity is about 25 tons, which is basically the same as that of Long March 5, but its geosynchronous orbit operating capacity is only half of that of Long March 5-about 7 tons.
Previously, the Russian plan was to use four angara launch vehicles. A manned spaceship, a moon landing spacecraft and two hydrogen and oxygen boosters were transported to Earth orbit. These four units will be combined in Earth orbit, and finally the manned mission to return to the moon will be completed. However, people with discerning eyes will know at a glance that the failure rate of this multi-rocket combination mission is extremely high, and coupled with the traditional high failure rate style of Russian aerospace industry, it is undoubtedly a disaster if four rockets are really used to complete a manned landing on the moon.
After China successfully launched the Long March 5 carrier rocket for many times, the next generation of heavy rocket technology was officially put on the agenda. According to the information of the First Academy of Aerospace Science and Technology Group, the diameter of the next generation rocket of China Aerospace will reach 10 meter, which is no less than Saturn 5 heavy rocket in the United States and SLS rocket being developed in the United States.
At present, it is known that the heavy rocket 10 m and diameter transition ring have been successfully developed, and the sub-projects such as oil storage tank, super-large elbow, new heat insulation technology and separation airbag technology have been broken through one after another, and the project progress is in line with the plan. The final technical indicators of the launch vehicle are not less than 1.40 tons in low-earth orbit, not less than 50 tons in earth-moon transfer orbit and not less than 44 tons in ground fire transfer orbit. The transportation index completely exceeds Saturn 5 and fully meets the requirements of the lunar exploration program for rockets.
Judging from the current technical level, China will provide a new generation of manned spacecraft, heavy rockets, automatic control technology and funds for the Russian-Chinese joint manned lunar exploration, lunar space station and China lunar surface scientific research station. Russia will provide valuable experience in space station construction, psychological and physiological changes of astronauts staying in space for a long time, and solutions to emergencies under low gravity conditions.
On October 2019101October 3 1 day, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation announced that China will be built into a terrestrial-lunar space economic zone in the middle of this century. In 2030, we will complete the research on basic problems and break through key technologies; In 2040, a high-reliability, low-cost and flyable space transportation system will be built; By the middle of this century, a permanent lunar research station and a large space station in lunar orbit will be built. With the rapid progress of the new generation of manned spacecraft and the next generation of heavy rocket technology, coupled with sincere cooperation with the Russian space community, can the trip to the moon after 30 years gradually enter thousands of households like the current trip abroad? The rabbit is still looking forward to it.