Hopping robot will hunt for moon water on China’s Chang’e 7 lunar mission in 2026
https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/hopping-robot-will-hunt-for-moon-water-on-chinas-2026-lunar-mission
Hopping robot will hunt for moon water on China’s Chang’e 7 lunar mission in 2026
https://www.space.com/the-universe/moon/hopping-robot-will-hunt-for-moon-water-on-chinas-2026-lunar-mission
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From the article
>China is preparing to launch a pioneering mission to the moon next year to search for definitive evidence of water at the lunar south pole.
>The [Chang’e 7 mission](https://www.space.com/china-new-moon-rover-change-7-mission) will consist of a lander, a rover and a mobile hopper, [according](https://english.news.cn/20250203/3d467826683644d794de7db2e77b75a2/c.html) to Chinese state media outlet Xinhua, and will launch sometime in 2026.
>The hopper is a “first-of-its-kind lunar explorer,” according to the report. It will jump from sunlit areas and into shadowed craters to look for water using a molecule analyzer.
I remember the question of how to get probes into the steep walled craters, and to possibly get from one crater to another, being an issue back in the eighties.
I am somewhat pleased that ten year old me was right and that hoppers would be viable in low lunar gravity.