China will send student experiments into deep space on 2 upcoming missions

China's upcoming exploration mission to the lunar south pole will carry one of more than 500 experiments designed and submitted by students across the country.

China is planning to launch its Chang'e 7 spacecraft around 2024. It will include a lander, rover, orbiter, relay satellite and a small hopping spacecraft to explore the rough terrain of lunar craters. The mission is an early part of a grand plan to construct a lunar base in cooperation with Russia.

Despite the importance of the mission, it will also carry a small experiment selected from those designed by young space enthusiasts from everything from primary schools to universities.

The China National Space Administration opened a call for popular Chang'e 7 science experiments in June 2020 and received 578 designs, including 143 from elementary schools, 206 from middle schools, 217 from universities, and 12 from elsewhere.

CNSA announced earlier this month that 20 projects have been shortlisted. These include experiments with silkworm cocoon hatching, moss rehydration and oxygen generation using plants in the low lunar gravity. A quantum communication payload, an experiment designed to make China's national flag "flutter" despite vacuum and low gravity, and another hopping spacecraft are also under consideration. Other projects on the shortlist include shielding from cosmic rays, and studies on the influence of the lunar gravity environment on the division of embryonic stem cells, and other biology experiments involving plants, insects, fungi and bacteria.

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