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An animation of the Chang’e 5 probe firing its engines to insert itself into lunar orbit.
China lunar exploration project
China in silence launched his Chang’e 5 spacecraft to the moon last week. The probe has now entered lunar orbit, preparing to land on the moon’s surface in the next few days.
At approximately 4:48 a.m. PT on Saturday, the probe fired its main engine for 17 minutes to slow enough to be captured by the moon’s gravity, according to the China Lunar Exploration Project. At 12:40 p.m. Pacific Time Sunday, the lander and its ascent vehicle separated from its orbiting module around the moon.
The separation of the Chang’e-5 Landing and Ascent Vehicle from the service module occurred at 20:40 UTC Sunday (04:40 Beijing Time). Here is the view from the service module. pic.twitter.com/kGRyMoXRnu
– Andrew Jones (@AJ_FI) November 30, 2020
The module will continue to zoom around the moon at approximately 125 miles above the surface, while the lander and ascent vehicle autonomously attempt to reach the lunar surface. It will move within 10 miles before descent.
China’s Lunar Exploration Program has not released official details of when the landing is scheduled, but China’s space watchers predict it will be in the next 48 to 72 hours.
Upon landing, Chang’e 5 is scheduled to collect about 4.5 pounds of lunar soil from Mons Rumker, a grain-shaped volcanic region on the face of the moon, before ascending back into orbit and transferring its loot to an orbiter. . The lunar samples were last returned by a Soviet spacecraft in 1976.
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