Everything You Need to Know About China’s 2026 Moon Mission!

Описание: Everything You Need to Know About China’s 2026 Moon Mission!
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Everything You Need to Know About China’s 2026 Moon Mission!
China is heading back to the Moon this year. And what it plans to do there might surprise you.
But first, did you know that the Chinese astronauts who are expected to go to the Moon recently spent nearly a week living underground in a cave?
In December 2025, China’s Manned Space Agency sent 28 taikonauts to take part in cave training exercises in Wulong, in Chongqing municipality. The goal was to prepare them for future lunar surface missions planned for later this decade. Divided into four groups of different sizes, the taikonauts spent six days and five nights underground, one group at a time, to experience conditions meant to simulate some of the mental and physical challenges of spaceflight—things like isolation, confinement, and operating in high-risk environments.
Everything You Need to Know About China’s 2026 Moon Mission!
The cave itself wasn’t exactly comfortable. Temperatures averaged around eight degrees Celsius, humidity hovered close to 99 percent, and total darkness was the norm. The crews had to wear insulating clothing and carry all of their own equipment and supplies throughout the exercise.
During their time underground, each group had to navigate through the cave system, entering at one point and exiting at another. That meant squeezing through narrow passages—sometimes dragging backpacks behind them or passing gear hand-to-hand—along with climbing up and down steep sections of rock. Along the way, they were also given secondary tasks, such as mapping their route, recording environmental data, and collecting samples, much like astronauts would do during real exploration missions.
Once they finally reached the exit, the training didn’t stop. The groups then took part in a short jungle survival exercise, where they had to signal for rescue to officially conclude the mission.
Everything You Need to Know About China’s 2026 Moon Mission!
All of this training is aimed at preparing China’s astronauts for a future crewed lunar landing, which the country is targeting for around 2029 or 2030. But while that historic first human landing is still a few years away, China also has another Moon mission coming up much sooner—one that’s set to launch this very year.
Officially, the Chang’e-7 mission—scheduled for launch later this year—is a scientific expedition to study the Moon’s south pole. In context, however, it represents something more consequential: a deliberate move in an accelerating global competition to establish sustained access to the lunar poles, where scientific discovery, technology development, and geopolitical influence increasingly converge.