China names spacesuit and lunar rover for Moon mission
The Chinese space agency has announced the names of a new spacesuit and lunar rover that will be used on its planned missions to the moon.Wangyu means 'gazing into the cosmos' and is the name given to the spacesuit.The rover is Tansuo, which means 'to explore the unknown'.
The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) asked people living in the country to send in their suggestions, and a panel of experts picked the two winners.This comes after China announced it wanted to send astronauts to the Moon for the first time in their history by 2030.They will be carried on a craft called Lanyue which means 'Embracing the Moon'.
The suit design was unveiled in 2024.It's white with red stripes, and it's been specially made to deal with extreme temperatures, radiation and dust.It's also much more flexible to allow astronauts to perform various tasks such as picking things up and climbing ladders more easily.And there are cameras in the helmet to help record their findings while performing their tasks.
China's space exploration programme has been making a lot of progress over the past few years.Five years ago it became the first country to land a rover on the Moon's far side.It also launched its own permanently crewed space station called Tiangong in 2021.
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