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China’s Chang’e-5 spacecraft decelerated and entered lunar orbit on Saturday, completing a critical step in its journey to collect and return lunar samples, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced.
After flying about 112 hours from Earth, an engine on the spacecraft started when it was 400 km from the moon’s surface at 8:58 pm and shut down after about 17 minutes, CNSA said.
The spacecraft braked without incident and successfully entered the lunar orbit, according to real-time monitoring data.
Chang’e-5, which includes an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a returner, made two orbital corrections during the Earth-Moon transfer, achieving its intended goals.
Next, it will adjust the altitude and inclination of its orbit around the moon. When the timing is appropriate, the lander-ascender combination will separate from the orbiter-returner combination, implement a soft landing on the near side of the moon, and auto-sample as intended.
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