What makes the new Chinese lunar mission so special?

People Online 2020: 11: 25.14: 24

WENCHANG, November 24, 2020 (Xinhua) – A long March-5 rocket, carrying the Chang’e-5 lunar probe, rises from the Wenchang Space Launch Center off the coast of Hainan Province’s southern island, 24 November 2020. On Tuesday, China launched a space probe to collect and retrieve samples from the moon, in the country’s first attempt to recover samples from an extraterrestrial body. (Xinhua / Guo Cheng)

Beijing, 25/11/2020 (People Online) –The Chang’e-5 mission is a major test of Chinese aerospace technology. With its launch, the nation is expected to achieve another success in space.

The lunar probe is made up of four parts: ascendant, lunar lander, orbiter and returner.

After being captured by the lunar gravity, the probe will enter its orbit about 200 kilometers from the Moon. Subsequently, the mission will be divided into two parts: the orbiter and returner will remain in orbit, while the ascendant and the lunar lander will go to the Moon.

There are three new features in the Chang’e-5 mission: a new probe, a new Long March 5 rocket, and a new launch site.

Previous missions have started at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, located in Sichuan province. However, Chang’e-5 was launched from the Wenchang spacecraft launch site in Hainan Province.

The Chang’e-5 mission consists of making four “first” discoveries in Chinese space history: the first time a probe has risen from the surface of the Moon; the first time the lunar surface is automatically displayed; the first time there were unmanned encounters and docking in the lunar orbit; and the first time it returns to Earth at escape velocity and with lunar soil samples.

Although the mission started successfully, the probe’s return process faces multiple challenges.

After collecting the samples, instead of doing so from the lunar surface, the ascendant will take off from the lunar lander. The control during the ascent process will be very complex.

The champions will be transferred from the ascendant to the returner, then the return to Earth will begin.

Unlike previous space missions, the return Chang’e-5 will return to Earth at an escape speed of 7 miles per second.

To keep the samples intact, researchers must find a perfect return path. Heat resistance will also be a difficult challenge to solve.

(Web Publisher: Zhou Yu, Zhao Jian)