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BEIJING: China plans to launch an ambitious asteroid exploration mission and has invited its collaborators to put their experiments to the test, space agency officials said Thursday.
The mission, which will last ten years, will consist of a probe sent to an asteroid close to Earth to collect samples, said Liu Jizhong, head of the China Center for Space Engineering and Exploration. After taking samples of the 2016 HO3 asteroid, the probe will return to Earth orbit where it will split in two.
A capsule containing the samples will return to the surface of the Earth, while a separate module will approach the 133P comet and orbit it. No calendar has been set for the mission.
A similar call was launched for the lunar spacecraft Chang & # 39; e-6, whose launch date will depend on the success of its predecessor, Chang & # 39; e-5, which will be launched from here the end of the # 39; year.
The French National Space Studies Center said last month that Chang & # 39; e-6 would carry French experiences.
Originally scheduled to take moon samples during the second half of 2017, it was delayed as a result of the failure of its planned carrier, the mighty Long March 5 Y2 rocket, when 39, a separate launch in July 2017.
The Chinese Space Agency has announced this year two other lunar missions planned, with the ultimate goal of creating a common research base on the Moon.
China aims to achieve the status of space superpower and has taken a major step in this direction by becoming the first country to probe on the other side of the moon on 3 January.
At Thursday's protest, data collected from Chang & # 39; e-4 were handed out to representatives from the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany, who had installed instruments on the scene. ; machine. China now spends more on its civilian and military space programs than Russia and Japan, and ranks behind only the United States. Although opaque, its budget for 2017 was estimated at $ 8.4 billion by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Give meaning to 2019 #ElectionswithtimesView full coverage
The mission, which will last ten years, will consist of a probe sent to an asteroid close to Earth to collect samples, said Liu Jizhong, head of the China Center for Space Engineering and Exploration. After taking samples of the 2016 HO3 asteroid, the probe will return to Earth orbit where it will split in two.
A capsule containing the samples will return to the surface of the Earth, while a separate module will approach the 133P comet and orbit it. No calendar has been set for the mission.
A similar call was launched for the lunar spacecraft Chang & # 39; e-6, whose launch date will depend on the success of its predecessor, Chang & # 39; e-5, which will be launched from here the end of the # 39; year.
The French National Space Studies Center said last month that Chang & # 39; e-6 would carry French experiences.
Originally scheduled to take moon samples during the second half of 2017, it was delayed as a result of the failure of its planned carrier, the mighty Long March 5 Y2 rocket, when 39, a separate launch in July 2017.
The Chinese Space Agency has announced this year two other lunar missions planned, with the ultimate goal of creating a common research base on the Moon.
China aims to achieve the status of space superpower and has taken a major step in this direction by becoming the first country to probe on the other side of the moon on 3 January.
At Thursday's protest, data collected from Chang & # 39; e-4 were handed out to representatives from the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany, who had installed instruments on the scene. ; machine. China now spends more on its civilian and military space programs than Russia and Japan, and ranks behind only the United States. Although opaque, its budget for 2017 was estimated at $ 8.4 billion by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Give meaning to 2019 #ElectionswithtimesView full coverage
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