Chinese astronauts aim to land on the moon in 2030. Now they have a new spacesuit to do it

(CNN) – China has taken a step forward in its ambitious plan to land astronauts on the moon by 2030, unveiling a specially designed spacesuit that its crew will wear in what is expected to be a historic mission in China’s space programme.

The new red and white suit, unveiled by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) over the weekend, is designed to withstand the Moon’s extreme temperatures, as well as radiation and dust, while allowing astronauts the physical flexibility to perform tasks on the Moon’s surface. According to government media.

The lunar landing suit is equipped with a built-in long- and short-range camera, an operations console, and an anti-glare helmet visor, according to a video shared by China Central Broadcasting Corporation (CCTV), featuring famous Chinese astronauts Zhai Zhigang and Wang. Yaping demonstrates how astronauts in the suit can sit up and climb the stairs.

The new technology has captured international attention.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared a post on the platform With CCTV video and its own address.

“At the same time, in the United States, [Administración Federal de Aviación (FAA)] “It is suffocating the national space program with Kafkaesque red tape,” he wrote, in an apparent reference to the remarkable speed with which China has ramped up its space program compared to the United States.

CNN has contacted the FAA for comment.

SpaceX’s fortune – and Musk’s personal fortune – has been boosted in recent years by huge government contracts, as NASA seeks to tap the private sector in space exploration and logistics.

China’s unveiling of a lunar lander comes as the country has made major efforts to establish itself as a major player in space, a field that countries including the United States are increasingly looking to, not only for its scientific benefits, but also for… Resources and national security.

In recent years, the China National Space Administration has carried out a series of increasingly complex robotic lunar missions, including the first mission in history to return lunar samples from the far side of the moon earlier this year. The country aims to become the second country to send astronauts to the moon, and says its first manned mission will take place “in 2030.”

The United States, which has not sent astronauts to the moon since 1972, plans to send a crew this decade, although it has delayed the initial schedule for the Artemis 3 mission. NASA said earlier this year that this mission would not launch until at least September 2026. . The agency will unveil a prototype of its Artemis III space suit, AxEMU, in 2023.

China’s new spacesuit has been hailed by state media as a major step forward in the country’s crewed mission schedule, with experts citing the need for a suit tailored to lunar conditions compared to those used for spacewalks at China’s Tiangong orbital space station.

With its thin outer shell, the Moon is an unforgiving place, exposed to sunlight and the cold of space. For example, temperatures near the moon’s equator can reach 121 degrees Celsius during the day, then drop to -133 degrees Celsius at night, according to NASA.

“Unlike low-orbit missions, astronauts will find themselves in a harsh natural lunar environment during lunar extravehicular activities. Complex environmental factors such as high vacuum and low gravity, lunar dust and lunar soil, and the complex terrain of the lunar surface, said Wu Zhiqiang, M.P. “High and low temperatures and strong radiation will have a great impact on work and protection,” the chief astronaut systems designer at the China Astronautics Research and Training Center told state broadcaster CCTV.

Others also praised the suit’s aesthetics: state media described the red stripes on its upper limbs as inspired by the stripes of “flying apsaras,” or deities appearing in ancient art from the western Chinese city of Dunhuang, while its lower limbs resembled “firing flames.” “Missiles.”

Another designer, Wang Chunhui, told state media that the suit’s proportions would make astronauts “look more active and luxurious” and “will make us Chinese look strong and beautiful when we step on the moon.”

Earlier this year, Chinese officials released the name of the spacecraft for a manned lunar mission: the spacecraft was named Mengzhou, or Dream Ship, and the lander was named Lanyue, or Embracing the Moon.

The mission was designed as part of a broader set of lunar ambitions, which include China’s plans to establish an international lunar research station at the moon’s south pole by 2040.