China presented on Saturday, at a China-United Kingdom space technology seminar at the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute, the prototype of a lunar rover that will hopefully be chosen for their first landing on the moon, to take place in 2012 .
The country's lunar ambitions are set out in the "Chang'e Project," named after the Chinese moon goddess. It comprises three stages through 2017.
A lunar orbiter will be launched later this year, the remote-controlled lunar rover will
sent up in 2012 and an unmanned return module will follow. Those steps are part of the preparations for a manned lunar voyage at some time beyond 2017.
It is a remote-controlled vehicle which travels at an average speed of 100 meters per hour, is 1.5 meters high and weighs 200 kg, similar to America's "Spirit," which landed on Mars.
The rover can climb slopes, its sensors can help it avoid bumping into obstacles and it's designed to take three-dimensional images, transmit real-time motion pictures and dig and analyze soil samples.
Engineers have spent the past four years developing the as-yet unnamed moon vehicle in a laboratory outfitted to mimic the lunar surface.
The biggest challenge for planners is energy supply because each "night" on the moon lasts for 14 Earth days, making solar power problematic, so institute engineers said they are planning to install a nuclear power source to ensure the rover's constant operation during its mission 380,000 km away from Earth.
An ambitious project, it comes as proof of China's recent economic boom, showing the technological advances made possible by the new vision of the political regime in the 21st century, and an eventual lunar landing, not attempted for decades, will further show China's "rise" as a superpower.
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