Introducing China's "WangYu" Spacesuit for Moon Missions & Station Building
China's spacesuit for upcoming lunar missions has been named "WangYu" (Gazing at the Universe). Chinese astronauts (taikonauts) aim to land on the Moon by 2030 as they prepare to build the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) with partner nations, including Russia, Belarus, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Pakistan, Egypt, South Africa, Venezuela, Nicaragua, the Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization and the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences.👨🚀👩🚀
"'Feitian' has realized the Chinese people's dream of flying into space, and 'Wangyu' means efforts to look into deep space and the universe and explore the unknown. China's crewed space program has embarked on a new journey of landing on the Moon and heading into deep space," said Zhang Wanxin, the director of the spacesuit engineering office at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center.
"Wangyu" also showcases China's adherence to the peaceful use of space and contribution to building a community with a shared future for humanity.
The agency said that the name reflects the mission's practical value in aiding the Chinese people to uncover the mysteries of the Moon, and that it is highly consistent with China's yearning to explore the vast cosmos, to develop the space industry, and to build itself into a space power.
"During the early stages of development, we have mastered key technologies, such as the manufacture of lightweight and smaller-sized Moon-landing spacesuits, as well as comprehensive protection against complex environments. We have now fully entered the prototype development stage, and are currently conducting comprehensive performance and function assessments and verifications of the prototype products. In the future, we will turn the attention of the people across the country into our driving force for work, and fully promote the development of the Moon-landing suits," said Zhang Wanxin.
China has been steadily pressing ahead the development and construction of equipment for its crewed lunar landing mission progressing as planned. The key technical research and in-depth demonstration in the early stage have been completed, and the prototypes of the equipment are now in their initial development phases.
China aims to achieve crewed lunar landing by 2030 to carry out scientific exploration and technical experiments, make breakthroughs in and master critical technologies, such as crewed Earth-Moon round trips, short-term stays on the lunar surface, and human-robot collaborative exploration. The mission will encompass a range of tasks, including landing, roving, sampling, research and returning to Earth, with an aim to form an independent capability of crewed lunar exploration.
By utilizing pre-crewed flight tests and crewed lunar missions, China plans to conduct large-scale space science experiments targeting three key areas, including lunar science, lunar-based science, and resource exploration and utilization.
Production and ground tests of prototypes of the Long March-10 carrier rocket, the crewed spacecraft Mengzhou, the lunar lander Lanyue, the spacesuit to be worn by astronauts, and the lunar rover are underway as planned.
Ground facilities and equipment for the production and tests have been completed and are operational, and the construction of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in China's Hainan island province is proceeding as planned.
Image Credit: China Manned Space Agency (CMSA)
Release Date: Feb. 11, 2025
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