The Chang-5 probe, named after the ancient Chinese goddess Moon, will try to gather material that could help scientists understand more about the origin and formation of the moon. The mission will test China’s ability to acquire samples from space, ahead of more complex missions.
If successful, the mission would make China only the third country to receive lunar samples following the United States and the Soviet Union decades ago.
Since the Soviet Union crashed Luna 2 on the moon in 1959, several other countries, including Japan and India, have launched lunar missions, the first man-made object to reach other human bodies.
In the Apollo program that put men on the first moon, the United States landed 12 astronauts on six flights between 1969 and 1972, carrying 382 kilograms (842 pounds) of rock and mud.
In the 1970s, the Soviet Union deployed three successful robotic model return missions. Finally, the Luna 24 received 170.1 grams (6 ounces) of samples from Mer Christmas, or “Sea of Emergencies,” in 1976.
China’s investigation is set to begin in the coming days, which will try to collect 2kg (4 1/2 pounds) samples in a vast lava field formerly known as Oceanius Procelerum or “Storm of the Storm” in the ambush area.
The Moon’s Apollo-Luna sample zone, when criticized for our understanding, was conducted in an area with less than half the surface of the moon, said James Head, a planetary scientist at Brown University.
Subsequent data from the Orbital Remote Sensing Mission showed a wide variety of rock types, minerals and eras represented in the Apollo-Luna sample collection, he said.
“Lunar scientists are advising robotic sample return missions in many different critical areas, taking into account the solution to the fundamental questions left by previous explorations.”
The Chang-5 mission can help answer questions such as how long the lunar volcano has been active under it and its magnetic field – the key to protecting any form of life from the sun’s radiation.
The mission
Once in lunar orbit, the goal of the probe is to place a pair of vehicles on Earth: a lander will drill on the ground, then transfer its soil and rock sample to an ascent that will orbit and dock with a rotation module.
If this succeeds, the samples will be transferred to a return capsule that will return them to Earth.
In the coming decade, China plans to set up a robotic base station to conduct unmanned reconnaissance in the South Polar region.
It is to be developed by Chang 67 and 8 missions in the 2020s and expanded before human landings in the 2030s.
China plans to receive samples from Mars by 2030.
In July, China launched an unmanned probe on Mars in its first independent mission to another planet.
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