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On Tuesday, space operators monitor the state of Chang’e 5 at a control center in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]
China’s Chang’e 5 robotic lunar probe split into two parts early Monday morning in a major development of the historic sample return mission, according to the China National Space Administration.
The separation took place at 4:40 am under the guidance of Beijing Aerospace Control Center technicians, the administration said in a statement, adding that the two sides, the orbiter-reentry capsule combination and the lander-blocker combination, were good. condition at the moment.
The orbiter’s reentry capsule combination will continue to travel in a lunar orbit at an average altitude of about 200 kilometers above the moon, while the lander-ascender combination will prepare to conduct a soft landing on the lunar surface, according to the statement. .
The 8.2 metric ton Chang’e 5, China’s largest and most sophisticated lunar probe, was launched by a Long March 5 heavy transport rocket early November 24 at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Province. , undertaking the world’s first mission since 1976 to return lunar samples to Earth.
Before the last maneuver, Chang’e 5 made two orbital corrections and two braking.
Upon touching the lunar surface, the lander-blocker combination will begin engaging in activities such as using a technically advanced drill to retrieve rocks 2 meters below the surface and collect soil from the surface with a mechanical arm.
If all goes smoothly, about 2 kilograms of stones and earth will be collected and packed in a vacuum-sealed metal container inside the blocker.
After two days, when surface operations are complete, a 3,000-newton thrust engine on the ascender will lift it to meet it and dock with the re-entry module. It will transfer the lunar samples to the module and then separate from it.
The combined orbital re-entry capsule will then return to Earth’s orbit, where the pair will break apart and the re-entry capsule will perform a series of complicated maneuvers to return to a preset landing site in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in mid-December.
If the mission is successful, it will be the first time that China has successfully recovered an extraterrestrial substance. It will also make China the third nation to bring back champions from the moon, after the United States and the former Soviet Union.
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