China's first manned lunar rover to be driven by two astronauts

BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Monday released an announcement to solicit proposals for the country's first manned lunar rover, which will be driven by two astronauts.

China will land its astronauts on the moon by 2030, and two astronauts will drive a lunar rover for scientific exploration during the mission, according to the announcement.

The current mission design indicates that the manned lunar rover will have functions such as manned driving and riding, lunar surface movement, positioning support and safety assistance, which can help astronauts in terms of movement, communication, exploration and so on, it said.

To pool high-quality resources from the whole society, explore a suitable commercial development mode and improve efficiency, the CMSA solicits proposals from the public and will select the best teams to develop the rover prototype, it added.

The proposals should include task requirement demonstration, overall scheme design, main key technologies, safety and reliability design, the development process, quality and schedule guarantees, a business model, and funding request.