Updated: November 24, 2020 7:55:19 am
In this Nov.17, 2020 photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a Long March-5 rocket moves at the Wenchang space launch site in Wenchang, south China’s Hainan Province. (Xinhua via AP)
On November 24, China’s Chang’e-5 lunar mission will become the first probe in more than four decades to bring back samples of lunar rock from a previously unexplored portion of the Moon.
In early 2019, China’s Chang’e-4 probe successfully transmitted images of the far side of the Moon, also known as the dark side. This was the first probe to land on this part of the Moon.
What is the Chang’e-5 mission?
The Chang’e-5 probe, named after the Chinese moon goddess who is traditionally accompanied by a white or jade rabbit, is the lunar sample return mission of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) which will be launched on November 24 from Wenchang. Space launch center on Hainan Island in China. The objective of the mission is to land in the Mons Rumker region of the moon, where it will operate during a lunar day, which lasts two weeks and will return a 2 kg sample of the lunar rock possibly by digging about 2 meters deep into the surface of Moon.
The mission comprises a lunar orbiter, a lander, and an ascent probe that will lift the lunar samples into orbit and return them to Earth. Chang’e-5 comprises a robotic arm, a drilling rig, a sample chamber, and is also equipped with a camera, penetration radar, and a spectrometer.
The spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth around December 15.
In this Nov.17, 2020 photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, a Long March-5 rocket is seen on the launch pad at the Wenchang space launch site in Wenchang, Hainan province, the southern China. (Xinhua via AP)
What do lunar samples tell us?
The first rock samples from the Moon were collected during the Apollo 11 mission. In a 1984 paper, NASA noted that lunar samples can help unravel some important questions in lunar science and astronomy, including the age of the Moon. , the formation of the Moon, the similarities and differences between Earth and the geological features and history of the Moon, and to see if the Moon can give scientists information about the solar system itself.
For example, the shape, size, arrangement and composition of individual grains and crystals in a rock can tell scientists about its history, while the radioactive clock can tell them the age of the rock. Also, small cracks in the rocks can tell you about the history of the Sun’s radiation over the past 100,000 years.
A Long March-5 rocket carrying the Chang’e 5 lunar mission takes off at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Wenchang, south China’s Hainan Province, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020 (AP Photo: Mark Schiefelbein).
According to the Lunar and Planetary Institute, the rocks found on the Moon are older than those found on Earth and are therefore valuable in providing information about the Earth and the shared history of the Moon. 📣 Express Explained is now on Telegram
In 1970, the Soviet Union’s Luna 16 probe returned a sample that weighed about 101 grams and was taken from the Mare Fecunditatis area of the Moon. This was followed by the Lune 16 probe that returned more than 55 grams of soil from the Apollonius Highland region. Both probes collected their soil samples from a few tens of centimeters below the lunar surface. In 1976, Luna 24 collected a sample weighing more than 170 grams from 2 meters deep in the lunar soil.
Also in Explained | The Regional Navigation Satellite System or IRNSS that India is the fourth nation to have
A patch from China’s Lunar Exploration Program is displayed on a worker’s uniform at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Wenchang, south China’s Hainan Province, Monday, Nov. 23, 2020. (AP Photo )
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
.
