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Beijing is pouring billions into its military-run space program, hoping to have a manned space station by 2022.
China is preparing to launch an unmanned spacecraft on Tuesday to bring back moon rocks, the first attempt by a nation to recover samples from the moon in four decades.
Beijing is pouring billions into its military-run space program, hoping to have a manned space station by 2022 and eventually send humans to the moon.
The Chang’e-5 probe, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, aims to shovel moon rocks and soil to help scientists learn about the moon’s origins, formation and volcanic activity on its surface.
The mission is expected to take off from the Wenchang space center in the southern province of Hainan Island, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) said on its WeChat social media account that the launch was scheduled between 4:00 and 5:00 on Tuesday (20:00 GMT and 21:00 GMT on Monday).
The original mission, scheduled for 2017, was delayed due to an engine failure of the Chinese Long March 5 launch rocket.
If successful, China will only be the third country to have recovered samples from the moon, after the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.
Technically challenging
The Chinese spacecraft will collect 2 kg (4.4 lb) of surface material in a previously unexplored area known as Oceanus Procellarum – or “Ocean of Storms” – which encompasses a vast lava plain, according to the scientific journal Nature.
If successfully launched, the probe is expected to land on the moon in late November and collect material during one lunar day, equivalent to about 14 Earth days.
The samples will be returned to Earth in a capsule scheduled to land in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China in early December, according to the US space agency NASA.
The mission is technically demanding and involves several innovations not seen during previous attempts to collect moon rocks, said Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
“The United States has never returned a robotic sample. The Soviet one was very limited and could only land in a few limited spots, “McDowell told AFP news agency.
“The Chinese system will be the most flexible and capable robotic sample return system yet.”
A Chinese lunar rover landed on the opposite side of the moon in January 2019 in a world first that bolstered Beijing’s ambitions to become a space superpower.
It was the second Chinese probe to land on the moon, following the Yutu rover mission, “Jade Rabbit”, in 2013.
The latest Chang’e-5 probe is part of a series of ambitious goals set by Beijing, including creating a super-powerful rocket capable of carrying heavier loads than NASA and private space company SpaceX can handle. , a lunar base, a permanent space station crew and a Mars rover.
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