A team of experts is designing a robot called “Chinese Super Masons” to produce the first bricks from lunar soil on the Moon.
According to a report by Reuters, citing Chinese media on April 13, the country aims to start utilizing lunar soil to construct a base on the Moon within the next five years.
Chang’e 5 lunar probe preparing to leave the Moon’s surface on December 3, 2020. (Photo:
THX/TTXVN)
According to the Changjiang Daily, over the past weekend, more than 100 scientists, researchers, and Chinese aerospace contractors participated in a workshop in Wuhan, Central China, to discuss ways to build infrastructure on the Moon.
In an interview with the press, Mr. Ding Lieyun, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, stated that a team of specialists is designing the robot named “Chinese Super Masons” to produce the first bricks from lunar soil.
This robot is set to be sent to the Moon during the Chang’e 8 mission in 2028.
Mr. Ding Lieyun emphasized that building a living environment on the Moon is essential for long-term exploration of this planet and will undoubtedly be pursued in the future.
The most recent lunar exploration mission conducted by China was the launch of the Chang’e 5 in 2020. This probe collected a total of 1,731 grams of rock and soil samples from the Moon and returned them to Earth.
Previously, on March 17, Chinese scientists proposed several objectives for a future international lunar research station, including observing Earth from the Moon and utilizing lunar resources.
The head of the Deep Space and Moon Research Unit at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zou Yongliao, announced these goals at a recent national space conference.
During the development of the research station design, scientists have made progress by establishing specific objectives for scientific research and applications.
These objectives mainly relate to studying the evolution of the Moon, the formation and activities of a star, and observing the Sun and Earth from the Moon.
