- Chinese scientists are building a nuclear-powered lunar
rover for the country's first unmanned mission to the moon in 2012, newspapers
reported Monday.
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- The 5-foot-high vehicle has been under development since
four years ago at the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute,
where a laboratory has been outfitted to replicate the lunar surface,
AP quoted the Shanghai Daily as saying.
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- The six-wheeled, 440-pound rover is designed to transmit
video in real time, dig and analyze soil samples, and produce three dimensional
images of the lunar surface, the paper said.
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- In photographs, the rover looked similar to NASA's unmanned
Spirit and Opportunity Mars explorers that were launched in 2003 and are
still operating.
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- However, unlike the rechargeable lithium ion batteries
used by those rovers, the Chinese model will ultimately run on a nuclear
power source to assure a steady energy supply, the report said.
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- 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.
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- Researchers were still refining its ability to handle
low gravity, exposure to cosmic rays and temperature extremes, and plan
to construct an even more sophisticated laboratory to mimic those conditions,
the newspaper said.
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- China is scheduled to send an unmanned ship to orbit
the moon this year, the first stage in its three-phase lunar exploration
project. Next is an unmanned mission to land on the moon and a manned
lunar voyage is planned for some time after 2017.
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- PDM/KB
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- http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=4748§ionid=3510204
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