China launches historic Chang’e 5 mission to collect first moon samples since 1976

[ad_1]

The first lunar sample return mission since the 1970s is underway.

Chinese robotics Chang’e Mission 5 launched today (November 23) from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Province, soaring into the sky on top of a Long rocket March 5 around 3:30 p.m. EST (9:30 p.m. GMT; 4:30 a.m. November 24 local time in Hainan).

If all goes according to plan, the daring and intricate Chang’e 5 will bring pristine moon samples back to Earth in mid-December – something that hasn’t been done since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 mission in 1976. .

In images, in pictures: China on the moon! A history of Chinese lunar missions

A Chinese Long March 5 rocket launches the Chang'e 5 moon sample return mission to orbit from the Wenchang spacecraft launch site on southern China's Hainan Island on November 24 2020 Beijing time (November 23 EST).

A Chinese Long March 5 rocket launches the Chang’e 5 moon sample return mission to orbit from the Wenchang spacecraft launch site on southern China’s Hainan Island on November 24 2020 Beijing time (November 23 EST). (Image credit: National Space Administration of China)

Chang’e 5’s short mission will be action-packed. The 18,100 pounds. (8,200 kilograms) a spacecraft will likely arrive in lunar orbit around November 28, then send two of its four modules – a lander and an ascension vehicle – to the lunar surface a day or two later. (Chinese officials have been typically vague about the details of Chang’e 5, so information about the timeline has been gathered from various sources by Chinese space observers like Space News’ Andrew Jones, who also provides articles for Space.com.)

The mission will land in the Mons Rumker region of the immense volcanic plain Oceanus Procellarum (“Ocean of Storms”), parts of which have been explored by a number of other surface missions, including NASA Apollo 12 in 1969.

The stationary lander will study its surroundings with cameras, ground-penetrating radar, and a spectrometer. But its main job is to hang around 4.4 pounds. (2 kg) of lunar material, some of which will be dug up to 6.5 feet (2 meters) underground. This work will be done over two weeks, or on a lunar day – a firm deadline, given that the Chang’e 5 lander is solar powered and will not be able to operate after dark at its location.

Related: The latest news on the Chinese space program

Mons Rumker is home to rocks that formed just 1.2 billion years ago, meaning Chang’e 5 “will help scientists understand what was happening at the end of the moon’s history , as well as how the Earth and the solar system evolved, ”as the nonprofit Planetary Society noted. his description of the mission. (The 842 pounds, or 382 kg, of moon rocks reported by Apollo astronauts between 1969 and 1972 are considerably older, providing a window into a deeper lunar past.)

The Chang’e 5 lander will transfer its samples to the Ascension Vehicle, which will launch them into lunar orbit for an encounter with the other two elements of the mission, a service module and an Earth return capsule. The lunar material will be loaded into the return capsule, which the service module will return to Earth, releasing it shortly before a landing scheduled for December 16 or December 17.

“While vehicles on a human side like those of NASA Apollo capsules relying solely on strong heat shielding, Chang’e 5 will perform a “re-entry jump,” once bouncing off the atmosphere to slow down before plunging towards a landing in Inner Mongolia, “the Planetary Society wrote.” landing is the same used. for [China’s] return of the crewed Shenzhou spacecraft. “

Pieces of paradise: A brief history of sample return missions

Diagram showing the components of the ambitious Chang'e 5 lunar sample return mission to China.

This illustration shows the components of the ambitious Chang’e 5 lunar sample return mission to China. (Image credit: All About Space // Future)

This photo of the moon taken by NASA's Apollo 15 astronauts in 1971, the Chinese Chang'e-5 mission will land a sample return mission to the region in late 2020.

This photo of the moon taken by NASA’s Apollo 15 astronauts in 1971, the Chinese Chang’e-5 mission will land a sample return mission to the region in late 2020. (Image credit: NASA)

Chang’e 5, the first-ever sample return effort in China, is the sixth and most ambitious mission of the Chang’e program robotic lunar exploration, named after a moon goddess in Chinese mythology. China launched the Chang’e 1 and Chang’e 2 orbiters in 2007 and 2010, respectively, and the Chang’e 3 The lander-rover duo landed on the near side of the moon in December 2013.

The Chang’e 5T1 mission launched a prototype return capsule on an eight-day trip around the moon in October 2014, to help prepare for Chang’e 5. And in January 2019, Chang’e 4 became the first mission to achieve a successful soft landing on the mysterious side of the moon. The Chang’e 4 lander and rover are still powerful, as is the Chang’e 3 lander. (The Chang’e 3 rover died after 31 months of working on the lunar surface.)

Illustration of an artist of the Chinese Chang'e 5 spacecraft.

Illustration of an artist of the Chinese Chang’e 5 spacecraft. (Image credit: CNSA / NASA)

Chang’e 5 is part of a recent wave of sample return missions. On December 6, for example, pieces of the asteroid Ryugu collected by Japan Hayabusa2 mission are expected to land in Australia. And NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe hooked up heavy sample of asteroid Bennu last month; this material will descend to Earth in September 2023, if all goes as planned.

Mike Wall is the author of “Over there“(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book on the search for extraterrestrial life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

[ad_2]

Source link