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Victoria Bela

China’s historic Chang’e-7 mission to drill for ice near the moon’s south pole has been delayed, the country’s human space flight programme authority said on Sunday.
The Chang’e-7 – carrying an orbiter, a lander, a rover and a hopper – was expected to lift off aboard a Long March 5 rocket from the Wenchang spaceport in southern China’s Hainan province as early as Monday.
The China Manned Space Agency said on Sunday evening that the mission would be postponed following a comprehensive assessment to adhere to principles of safety and reliability.
“The Chang’e-7 mission does not meet the launch conditions and cannot be carried out within the scheduled launch window this year,” state news agency Xinhua reported, citing the agency.
Earlier on Sunday, the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (Narit) – which developed a scientific instrument on board the spacecraft – announced that the mission would be postponed due to the development of Tropical Storm Narra in the South China Sea.
“Due to the target landing site on the lunar south pole, this makes for a very particular launch window in which the sun lined up just right for the lunar crater,” Narit said.
“A delay by a few days would mean postponing to the next launch window in a month at the earliest.”

Tropical Storm Narra has lingered over Beibu Wan – also known as the Gulf of Tonkin – between Vietnam, China’s southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and the island province of Hainan over the past few days.
Over the weekend, the Hainan meteorological bureau issued a blue alert for the storm, the lowest on China’s four-level typhoon warning scale.
Once launched, the Chang’e-7 is expected to reach lunar orbit in about five days, where it will spend weeks mapping the landing site before sending a lander down to the surface.
The lander – with the rover and hopper on board – aims to touch down at the sunlit rim of a 21km (13-mile)-wide depression called the Shackleton crater, which is located almost exactly at the lunar south pole.
While sections of the rim receive sunlight, the crater’s permanently shadowed floor is thought to harbour frozen water. Together, these features could supply a future lunar base with solar power, water, oxygen and rocket fuel.
A successful mission could give China a head start over the United States in building a permanent lunar base.


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China delays Chang’e-7 mission to drill for ice near lunar south pole

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The Chang’e-7 lunar probe and the Long March-5 Y14 carrier rocket combination is transferred vertically to the launch area at the Wenchang spaceport in Hainan province on August 19. Photo: Xinhua via AP

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The Chang’e-7 mission is expected to touch down on the rim of Shackleton crater near the lunar south pole this year as part of China’s search for water on the moon. Photo: Handout

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A presentation slide shared on Chinese social media illustrates the Chang’e-7 mission architecture, showing the orbiter, lander, rover and hopper working together to explore the moon’s south pole and search for water ice in permanently shadowed craters. Photo: Weibo

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News

China

Historic mission expected as early as Monday has been postponed after safety and reliability assessment, China Manned Space Agency says


Historic mission expected as early as Monday has been postponed after safety and reliability assessment, China Manned Space Agency says.


China delays Chang’e-7 mission to drill for ice near lunar south pole

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Historic mission expected as early as Monday has been postponed after safety and reliability assessment, China Manned Space Agency says

Historic mission expected as early as Monday has been postponed after safety and reliability assessment, China Manned Space Agency says