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The mission, the first of its kind since the 1970s, is part of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, which will last 15 years, and its subsequent phases are even more ambitious.
On November 23, China launched the Chang’e-5 probe to the moon, which aims to bring two kilograms of lunar soil and rock samples to Earth.
The mission, the first of its kind since the 1970s, is part of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, which will last 15 years, and its subsequent phases are even more ambitious.
If successful, the Chang’e 5 mission will make China the third country to collect lunar samples, after the United States and USSR did decades ago.
How’s the mission going?
The Chang’e-5 was launched by the Changzheng 5, or Long March 5 rocket, from China’s southernmost space launch center, Wenchang, located on the northeastern coast of Hainan Island. .
On November 28, the spacecraft – which like its predecessors is named after the moon goddess of Chinese mythology, Chang’e – entered the lunar orbit and It is expected to land on the satellite’s surface on December 1st.
The landing site will be an immense volcanic plain on the visible side of the moon known as ‘Oceanus Procellarum’, or ‘Ocean of Storms’, where there are about 20 volcanoes surrounded by young lava fields ranging between 1,200 and 1,500 million years. The collected samples can help answer questions such as how long the interior of our natural satellite has been volcanically active and when its magnetic field has dissipated.
Before landing, the lander with the launcher will separate from the orbital block and the space capsule, which will remain in the orbit of the Moon at an altitude of 200 kilometers in standby mode.
In the upper plane of the descent module there is a manipulator to collect earth and rocks from the surface of the Moon, while in the lateral plane of the apparatus a drilling device is installed.
After landing and taking samples, the apparatus be able to perform other scientific tasks using a series of tools to determine the mineral composition of regolith, analyze the evolution of gas on the lunar surface, and study the structure of the lunar soil, among other tasks.
The samples will then be loaded into a container on the launch plane, which is expected to launch around December 2.
The orbital unit will then have to automatically find the launch aircraft, approach and “capture” it. The container with the samples, meanwhile, will be loaded through a hatch in the top of the capsule, after which the launcher will separate to fall on the Moon. This is the hardest part of the mission and the first automatic docking of two spaceships on another celestial body.
The spacecraft will begin flying to Earth around 13 December. At a distance of approximately 5,000 kilometers from our planet, the capsule will separate from the orbiting vehicle and enter the atmosphere.
The Chang’e-5 is expected to land with the help of a parachute in the territory of Inner Mongolia on December 17. In this way, the mission will last a total of 23 days.
What does China plan to do next?
The return of Chang’e-5 will complete the third phase of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.
The fourth phase aims to study the territories in the South Pole region of the Moon for future manned expeditions. Around 2024, Chang’e-6 will land on the satellite to collect the lunar soil and transport it to Earth. The Chang’e-7 will transport a rover and a small demonstration module with jet engines to the moon. Finally, the Chang’e-8 will develop key technologies for the construction of a lunar station, which will enable scientific research e mining on the lunar surface.
Does China have any rivals?
It is expected that in October 2021 Russia launch from the Vostochni Cosmodrome the Luna-25 automatic interplanetary station, the first Russian lunar station. If successful, it will make the world’s first soft landing in the southern circumpolar region of the moon near Boguslávski crater. In 2024, the orbital scientific device Luna-26 is expected to travel to our satellite.
In EE.UU. There is the Artemis manned space flight program, initiated by President Donald Trump, which aims to re-explore the Moon and bring the satellite “the first woman and the next man”, particularly to the South Pole region, by 2024. However, it is possible that Joe Biden’s election victory upset the plans of the program.
India’s Chandrayaan-2 aircraft is currently operating successfully near the moon, but New Delhi’s attempts to land smoothly on the satellite are yet to be successful. India is currently developing its third lunar mission, the Chandrayaan-3.
Furthermore, the file is also worth pointing out small Beresheet lunar station of the organization Israeli SpaceIL non-profit. The device tried to land softly on the surface of the Moon in April 2019, but suffered an accident. SpaceIL is now trying to find funding for a second device.
In September 2020, the Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, announced that in 2024 his country plans to launch Rashid, a small lunar ‘rover’ with scientific equipment.
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