A group of Shanghai scientists have developed a prototype lunar rover that they hope will be selected for China’s first unmanned trip to the Moon in 2012.

The development of the six-wheeled rover was announced at the China-United Kingdom Workshop on Space Science and Technology at the Shanghai Aerospace System Engineering Institute in Shanghai, China on March 31, 2007.

Participating in its development were scientists from Shanghai Spaceflight Agency, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shenyang Institute of Automation, and other Chinese research facilities.

These scientists worked four years to develop the vehicle that can climb a 30-degree incline, take 3-D pictures, and analyze soil samples. The five-foot high and 440 pound vehicle, still unnamed, can move about 100 meters (328 feet) per hour.

It is said to be very similar to the U.S./NASA rovers Spirit (MER-A) and Opportunity (MER-B) that landed on the planet Mars on January 4, 2004, and January 25, 2004 (respectively), as part of the NASA Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission. Both rovers have been exploring the surface of Mars (opposite sides) since their landings on the planet.

Other institutes around China are also competing for the privilege of having their lunar rover selected for China’s ambitious lunar plans to send the Chang'e 1 spacecraft around the Moon in 2007, to land on the Moon with a remotely controlled rover in 2012 and, then, to set a Chinese taikonaut (astronaut) on the lunar surface sometime after 2017.

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