China to fly French experiments on Chang’e-6 lunar probe
By Cao
Siqi and Deng Xiaoci
China
and France are going to the moon together and beyond, as space authorities from
the two sides signed a new agreement in a bid to step up their cooperation in
the fields of space exploration on March 25.
On the
occasion of the state visit to France of Chinese President Xi Jinping, heads of
China National Space Administration (CNSA) and France’s Centre National d’études
Spatiales (CNES) signed an agreement on future space cooperation between the
two nations at the Elysée Palace in Paris, according to a CNES press release.
China
will fly French experiments on its Chang’e-6 mission to return samples from the
Moon in 2023-24, said the press release.
Besides,
the two state space agencies have started work on their next joint
Earth-observation mission, with focus on ocean salinity and soil moisture, and
at the same time, the two nations are pursuing the roll-out of the Space
Climate Observatory to deliver satellite data in support of tracking climate
change and its impacts, according to the CNES.
In October
2018, China-France Oceanography Satellite, known as the CFOSat, designed to
observe ocean-atmosphere exchanges, particularly between winds and waves, was
launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Northwest China's Gansu
Province.
Calibrated
CFOSat data will be available to the international science community in May
this year, said the CNES.
Jean-Yves
Le Gall, CNES president, told the media on the sidelines of the Monday
proceedings that “beyond the success of our joint CFOSat oceanography satellite
and projects already in development, with the SVOM astrophysics mission to
study high-energy phenomena and CardioSpace 2 in the domain of space medicine,
the agreement signed today in the presence of our highest authorities is a
historic one, since France will be going to the Moon with China!”
“This
demonstrates the excellence of our cooperation in science and technology, and
confirms the mutual trust we have forged to develop ambitious space projects,”the
CNES official noted.
Despite
external constraints when it comes to space cooperation with China, the French
side has had a longstanding, close collaboration with China in the field, and
achieved a series of successes in the aspects of sharing space orbit data, aero
engine design, satellite key component design and production, said Sun Yuming,
Minister Counselor for Science and Technology at the Chinese Embassy in France,
Science and Technology Daily reported on March 26.
According
to Sun, the two sides will continue to push forward deep cooperation in the
domains including space station, lunar and Mars exploration and space science,
as well as jointly implement the Paris Agreement.
"A
big China-France space cooperation potential also lies in the building of Moon
village, an international program still under discussion," Deng Yulin, an
International Academy of Astronautics academician and a professor with the
Beijing Institute of Technology who is currently on an academic trip to Paris,
told the Global Times.
China
and France are complimentary to each other in the space exploration domain,
with China showing significant strengths in fields including lunar exploration
and building of its own space station in the near future, and France excelling
in developing certain research payloads, Deng explained.
Source: Global
Times
On August 19th, 2017, a photography exhibition focused
on China’s economic and technological achievement was held at the Exhibition
Hall of Beijing National Cultural Palace. Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei's
photographic works “Looking at the Earth from Shenzhou V” attracts many
visitors. Photo from People’s Daily online
China to fly French experiments on Chang’e-6 lunar probe
Reviewed by PEOPLES MAIL
on
08:30
Rating:
No comments: