Source: IE
Context: China plans to start building a lunar base using soil from the moon in the next five years, with a team designing a robot named “Chinese Super Masons” to make bricks out of lunar soil.
About the mission:
- China aims to retrieve the world’s first soil sample from the far side of the moon in a mission around 2025
- Then China will launch the Chang’e-8 mission around 2028 for making bricks out of lunar soil
Importance of Moon:
| Resource | Description |
| Helium-3 | A rare isotope that is abundant on the moon and can be used as fuel for nuclear fusion reactors. |
| Water | Water ice has been found in the moon’s polar regions. It offers a valuable resource for future lunar colonies or deep space missions. |
| Metals | The moon contains metals such as iron, titanium, and aluminium, which could be used for construction and manufacturing purposes. |
| Rare Earth Elements | The moon contains rare earth elements such as yttrium, lanthanum, and neodymium. These resources could be mined and used to support the development of advanced technology in space. |
| Solar Power | The moon receives constant sunlight, making it an ideal location for solar power generation. |
| Launching Pad | Moon can serve as the base for the exploration of other planets. |
Other missions on Moon: Artemis (NASA), Chandrayaan-3 (India), Chang’e (China) Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (Korea), Luna 25 (Russia), SLIM (Japan)
