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The “Chang’e 5” space probe landed on the Moon on Tuesday and is expected to return rocks to Earth from there for the first time in more than 40 years. The collection of the samples is already in progress. But before that, the lander took a sharp image of the moon’s surface.
The Chinese space agency CNSA and its lunar program (CLEP) have made the image available in a resolution of 15,000 by 7,947 pixels. This means that the surface of the moon appears sharp even when zoomed in. Among other things, users of the Chinese microblogging service “Weibo” raised the issue.
When zooming out, you can see exactly small stones that the lander has moved by placing one of its feet on the planet (image at the top). You can also zoom into larger chunks, as well as smaller voids in the ground. A Twitter user uploaded the full resolution image to Google Drive and made it zoomable (here).
“Chang’e 5” collected the first samples from the moon on Wednesday morning after drilling, the CNSA announced. The landing of the spacecraft on the moon is considered another important step in China’s ambitious space program (read more here).
Two kilos of material from the moon
At 8,200 kilograms, the »Chang’e 5« is the largest spacecraft in the »Chang’e« fleet to date and consists of four modules: the orbiter with the return capsule and the lander with the landing stage. ascent.
For the next several hours, the lander will continue to use its long arm to collect moon rocks and samples from wells up to two meters deep and store them in a chamber. The action should last two days. Then the return trip must be made.
The plan is to bring about two kilograms of material to earth. The researchers hope to obtain new information about the volcanic activity of the moon.
The American Apollo missions brought in around 380 kilograms of lunar rock. The Soviet Union collected around 300 grams with unmanned missions. With a successful return to earth, China would be the third nation to succeed in such a project.
