A technological research project for a moon rover was recently reviewed and approved by experts at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The project is part of the CAS Knowledge Innovation Program involving research into key technological systems.

After a thorough review of the project, experts accepted the findings of the project and proposed further research for the second phase of the State's lunar exploration project.

Led by deputy chief designer Jiang Jingshan, experts gave a favorable review of the overall system design, key technology research and system integration for the moon rover.

During the second phase of the project for lunar exploration, China plans to launch a lunar probe carrying a moon rover and survey the site around a landing station. Due to the complexities of the system for the lunar rover, no single department can develop the rover alone. CAS will arrange for several departments and units with a technological advantage to work together to produce the China-made moon rover.

The project was launched in March of 2005. The CAS' Shenyang Institute of Automation is leading the project. CAS National Astronomical Observatories, the CAS Space Center, the University of Science and Technology of China, and the CAS Institute of Electronics are all involved in the research.

By People's Daily Online