A Chinese spacecraft, which took off from the moon on Thursday night with a load of rocks, is the first phase of its return to Earth, the government space agency said. Change 5, the The third Chinese spacecraft to land on the moon And the first to re-emerge from it, it is the latest in a growing range Ambitious mission For Beijing’s space program, which also has an orbiter and a rover to go to Mars.
Just before the ascent took off, Lander landed the first free-standing Chinese flag-bearing vehicle on the moon administering the space. The agency posted an image – apparently taken from the lander – that he was operating his engine while unloading the engine of the ascending vehicle.
CNSA
State media said the spacecraft “carried the original five-star red national flag made of cloth, marking the first in the country’s aerospace history,” state media said.
Chang 5 touched the sea of storms near the moon on Tuesday. Its mission: collect about 4 pounds of lunar rocks and bring them back to Earth, the first return of post-Soviet spacecraft specimens to do so in the 1970s. Previously, the U.S. Apollo astronauts brought back hundreds of pounds of lunar rocks.
The landing site is close to a formation known as Mons Ramkar and may contain billions of years smaller rocks than the previous one.
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The vehicle was scheduled to depart from Chad after 11 a.m. Beijing time (1500 GMT) with a vehicle returning to lunar orbit, after which the samples were transferred to the capsule, according to the China National Space Administration. Moon rocks and debris were sealed inside a special canister to prevent contamination.
It is not clear when the link will be made. After the transfer, the ascent module will be taken out and the capsule will remain in lunar orbit for about a week, waiting for the best time to return to Earth.
Chinese officials say the capsule with the samples is due to land on Earth in the middle of the month. Incheon plans to make a touchdown for Mongolia’s meadows, where Chinese astronauts have returned to the Shenzo spacecraft.
The Changi 5 lander, which landed on the moon, was capable of cutting specimens from the surface and drilling 2 meters (approximately 6 feet).
While its main task was to obtain samples, the lander was also equipped to photograph large areas of the area, maps of the surface with radar below the ground, and analyze the lunar soil for minerals and water content.
Chang 5 has re-discussed China about sending astronauts to China one day and possibly building a scientific base there, although no timeline has been suggested for such projects.
China launched its first temporary orbital laboratory in 2011 and another in 2016. Plan 205 calls for a permanent space station, possibly to be serviced by a reusable spacecraft.
While China is stepping up cooperation with the European Space Agency and others, its interaction with NASA has been limited by U.S. concerns due to its covert nature and close military links to the Chinese program. On Tuesday, NASA’s director of science, Thomas Zarbuch, congratulated China after the spacecraft landed on the moon.
For the development and testing of propulsion, guidance, exploration and landing systems required for long-term research, China has implemented an additional approach in its lunar program, launching a series of increasingly complex robotic spacecraft.
Chang 1 and 2 missions successfully reached lunar orbit in 2007 and 2010, followed by Chang 3 Lunar Lander in 2013 and Chang 4, which landed far away from the Moon in 2019. 5 is the first 5 of the two planned sample return missions so far and China’s most ambitious Moon mission.
Bill Harwood contributed to this report.
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