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C.hina is preparing to launch her mission to return the lunar champion, Chang’e-5. On Tuesday, the 57-meter-long March-5 rocket was brought into position at the launch site of the Wenchang spacecraft in southern China’s Hainan province.
This will be the fifth launch of the Long March-5. According to the China National Space Administration, the ignition is likely to occur towards the end of November. The launch of the Chang’e-5 was originally scheduled for 2017, but the failure of the second Long March 5 flight delayed the program as a rocket engine was redesigned.
Chang’e-5 is a complex mission. A service module will remain in orbit while a lander descends into the Mons Rümker volcanic site in the Oceanus Procellarum region of the lunar side. The lander will roboticly collect about 2kg of lunar material, which it will launch into lunar orbit to meet with the service module. This will then return to Earth.
The sequence resembles a manned mission and could be a test of software and systems that China will use for future human landings.
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