China has hinted its taikonauts (astronauts) might live and work on the Moon for days on end from its proposed lunar base.
Key to attaining this aim will be constructing the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). China has previously said it will build this lunar land base along with Russia. It might invite the European Space Agency (ESA) to join this project.
ILRS will allow taikonauts to stay on the moon for long periods of time conducting scientific studies and exploring, said Wu Weiren, chief designer for Chang'e lunar exploration mission at the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
"Compared to American astronauts who could only stay for tens of hours after landing on the moon, Chinese astronauts will stay on the moon for a longer period of time," said Wu. "This will be a long-term stay on the moon, not a short-term stop."
ILRS is currently being developed by CNSA and the Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities (Roscosmos). It will serve as a comprehensive scientific experiment base on the lunar surface (or in lunar orbit) for multi-disciplinary and multi-objective scientific research activities.
Roscosmos and CNSA said ILRS will be "open to all interested countries and international partners." China unveiled its concept for the ILRS in August 2020.
On March 9, the heads of CNA and Roscosmos signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperative construction of the ILRS via a virtual meeting. The MOU was signed virtually by CNSA Director Zhang Kejian and Roscosmos Director Dmitry Rogozin.
CNSA later said the joint development of ILRS will call for "planning, demonstration, design, development, implementation, and operation of scientific research station projects, including project promotion to the international aerospace community."
Rogozin said ILRS will involve developing a space monitoring system and will play a role in both countries' deep space exploration programs. He said China and Russia will also likely cooperate on exploring asteroids and comets.
"The Chinese have grown a lot in recent years," said Rogozin. "We respect their results, and in principle they are a worthy partner for us."
