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Photo source, CNSA
The ultimate goal is to deliver a 2 kg sample of “soil” to the ascent and return lines and bring them back to Earth.
China has landed another probe on the lunar surface.
The Chinese National Space Agency (CNSA) announced on day 2 that the unmanned lunar probe Changeo 5, which set out to collect samples of lunar rock and soil and bring it to Earth, successfully landed on the night of day 1.
Changeo 5 settled in the northern part of the Mons Rümker volcanic area in the area called Oceanus Procellarum. Here, soil and rock samples are collected from the lunar surface over several days.
The Changeo 5 probe is equipped with cameras, radar, drills and shovels to aid in the work.
The ultimate goal is to deliver 2 kg of “soil”, or topsoil, and specimens to the upstream and return lines to bring them to Earth.
The probe that brought samples of the lunar soil to Earth was the last Soviet Moon in 1976, 44 years ago, to successfully transfer 200 grams of soil to Earth.
Photo source, Shutterstock
The Changeo 5 project team applauds
The appearance of the lunar landing on this day was not broadcast live unlike when it was released a week ago.
Chinese TV channels stopped regular broadcasts and broadcast them only after the successful landing was confirmed.
The public landing process included a scene in which the probe’s legs cast shadows on the dusty surface of the moon.
NASA science and technology executive Thomas Jerbuten congratulated China on its achievements and said he hopes the international research community can share the results.
Photo source, CNSA
Photo taken by Changeo 5
“When the specimens collected from the Moon reach Earth, we hope that the international community of researchers will be able to study this valuable probe that will lead to the advancement of the scientific community,” he tweeted.
Changeo 5, weighing 8.2 tonnes, was launched on the 24th at China’s Hainan Won Chang space launch station on the Chinese space launch vehicle Changjeong 5.
Changeo 5 came close to the moon’s orbit on the 28th, and before the landing craft, the ascending craft, and the return craft were divided, it went through orbit adjustments such as altitude correction over the moon.
CNSA also announced that Changeo 5 had landed on the lunar front at 11:11 pm on the 1st at 51.8 degrees west longitude and 43.1 degrees north latitude.
Changeo 5 is the third successful lunar landing by a Chinese probe.
China has successfully landed Changeo 3 and Changeo 4 with fixed landers and small rovers on the lunar surface.
Throughout the Apollo astronaut’s exploration and the entire Soviet lunar program, less than 400 kg of specimens were taken from the moon.
Furthermore, all of these specimens were ancient specimens estimated to be over 3 billion years old.
Mons-Lucer’s soil is estimated to be between 1.2 and 1.3 billion years old. As the soil is relatively young, it is expected to provide new information about the geological history of the moon.
In particular, scientists will be able to measure “chronometers” within the planets of the solar system.
Stopwatch measurements are made by counting craters. The more craters there are, the older the surface.
The key to this measurement is to take a solid date as the benchmark, with samples from Apollo and the Soviet Union as important benchmarks, and Changeo 5 will provide additional data.
According to the report, China predicted that sample collection would end in a few days, after which it would return to the Mongolian desert via the upstream and return lines.
“Spearfish 5 is a very complex mission,” said James Carpenter, a researcher at the European Space Agency. Said.
