Africa's First Moon Mission Could Be Highly Sensitive BALLS
An illustration of Africa2Moon's Bounced African Low Lunar Spheres, or BALLS.Credit: Africa2Moon
China's Chang'e-8 Moon lander mission is scheduled for 2029, and just like other major launches, it has some room left over for additional payloads. The latest to be announced is a payload for the Africa2Moon program, consisting of three spherical sensors that will constitute the first-ever African lunar science mission.
The Africa2Moon program is a South Africa-led effort that brings together scientists from around the continent. No African space agency currently has the ability to launch to the Moon, however, so the plan was always predicated on using the launch capabilities of other countries.
Now, China has stepped up to provide that space. The three spherical sensors are called Bounced African Low Lunar Spheres, a somewhat tortured name with an unfortunate acronym. As the name implies, they're meant to lie on the surface of the Moonand "bounce"...
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