Eat your heart out, lecher dog: China develops rover for mission to moon

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_China_Moon_Mission.html

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SHANGHAI, China -- Scientists in Shanghai are developing a nuclear-
powered lunar rover for the country's first unmanned mission to the
moon in 2012, newspapers reported Monday.

The six-wheeled vehicle has been under development for four years at
the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute, where a
laboratory has been outfitted to replicate the lunar surface, the
Shanghai Daily reported.

The 5-foot-high, 440-pound rover is designed to transmit video in real
time, dig for and analyze soil samples, and produce three dimensional
images of the lunar surface, the paper said.

In photographs, the rover appeared similar to NASA's unmanned Spirit
and Opportunity Mars explorers that were launched in 2003 and are
still operating.

However, unlike the rechargeable lithium ion batteries used by those
rovers, the Chinese model will eventually run on a nuclear power
source to ensure a constant energy supply, the report said.

With an average speed of 328 feet per hour, it can negotiate inclines
and has automatic sensors to prevent it from crashing into other
objects, the report said.



Researchers were still refining its ability to handle low gravity,
exposure to cosmic rays and temperature extremes, and plan to build an
even more sophisticated laboratory to mimic those conditions, the
newspaper said.

No figures were given for the cost of the rover program. A man who
answered the phone at the institute's main number said it had a policy
of not accepting media interviews.

China's sprawling military-linked space program that has sent two
manned missions into space, with a third manned space mission
scheduled for next year that will reportedly include the country's
first spacewalk.

China plans to send an unmanned ship to orbit the moon this year, the
first step in its three-stage lunar exploration project. An unmanned
mission to land on the moon is next and a manned lunar voyage is
planned for some time after 2017.

.

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