Introduction to Pakistan and China Moon Mission :
Pakistan's satellite will revolve around the moon!!
In 2005, an organization was formed in the Chinese capital to promote cooperation between China and the space agencies of various countries, signed by various governments. The name of this organization was Asia Pacific Space Organization Corporation (APSCO).
Apart from China, the member countries of this organization included Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Turkey, Mongolia, and Thailand.
In this context, in 2022, the China National Space Agency (CNSA), through this organization, provided member countries with the opportunity to use scientific instruments made by universities in their respective countries for their automated Chang-6 mission to the moon. If they want to send it along, China will cooperate with them. This call was sent to all member states. In this regard, the Pakistan Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad (IST), taking advantage of this opportunity, expressed its intention to send China to the lunar orbit with a small satellite made in Pakistan with the Chang-6 mission. The Chinese Space Agency responded to this and thus the work was started on the preparation of this small satellite in collaboration with Pakistan Space Institute, Sparco, and Shanghai Jiaotong University of China. This satellite was named "I-CUBE Q".
What is a Cube Satellite?
A cube-satellite, abbreviated as Cube-Sat in the space community, is a box-shaped satellite of a few centimeters in which scientific instruments are installed (usually about the size of a shoebox). About 2,300 cubesets have been sent into space so far. These low-cost satellites are now also launched by private companies as electronic devices such as cameras and sensors are shrinking in size in modern times. An example is a mobile phone in your hand, which has many different types of mobile devices in one device in the palm of your hand.
The Pakistan-made Ai-Cube Qamar is a cube-set weighing around 7 kg, equipped with two 1-megapixel cameras. The purpose of these cameras is to take pictures of the surface of the Moon, and of the Earth. Along with this, the moon's magnetism has to be analyzed. However, the main purpose of this satellite is to master this technology in space.
The satellite is expected to remain active in orbit around the moon for three months. It will be launched into lunar orbit by the Chang'e-6 mission's orbiter. The Orbiter is part of the Chang'e-6 mission that will orbit the Moon and is intended to communicate with the Chang'e-6 lander that will land on the Moon and take pictures of the Moon's surface. The Chang'e-6 mission will be launched to the Moon in May 2024.
It is hoped that in this mission, this small satellite of Pakistan will be helpful in promoting space technology in Pakistan.
About China's Change-6 Mission:
Pakistan Settalite will actually go to the moon with China's Moon mission satellite known as Change-6 on May 3 at 12:50 PM according to Pakistan time, while according to Beijing time this mission will start at 3:50 PM (GMT).
Aims of Change-6 Mission
The purpose of this mission is to land on the far side of the moon and bring some lunar samples (rocks, lunar soil) back to our Earth. This is the second time China is bringing samples from the moon's surface to Earth.
The China Mission will land on the Southern edge of Apollo Basin
43.0°S 154.0°W.
Moon samples will help us learn more about the Moon:
For example, these samples will help us to understand how the Moon was formed and how old it might be, what elements are present in the lunar soil, and what the chances of having ice and water on the Moon are, Moreover in the future it will help in Moon colonization.
The weight of Change-6 will be 8200 kg while the duration of this mission to be complete is 53 days.
Pakistan Satellite with Change-6 Mission :
The full name of this Pakistan Moon mission is Cubeset Qamar, which is abbreviated as ICUBE-Q.
Since Pakistan's satellite is also going with this China mission, Pakistan's satellite will stay in the moon's orbit and this satellite has two cameras with the help of which it will take high-resolution pictures of the moon's surface. Apart from this, Pakistan's satellite will get the results of spectroscopy by staying in the moon's orbit and will also collect information about the moon's magnetism.
Apart from this, this satellite of Pakistan will also make communication possible there, it is hoped that the Pakistani space program can progress.
The sources did not clarify the cost of this satellite of Pakistan, but much we know for sure that this satellite has been made jointly by Pakistan's Institute of Space Technology and China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
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