Chang’e 5
Chang’e 5 is a robotic mission of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. It was launched on 23 November 2020 at 20: 30 UTC from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Hainan Island. It landed on the Moon on 1 December 2020, followed by returning to Earth with lunar samples on 16 December 2020. The mission’s landing zone is near Mons Rümker in Oceanus Procellarum.
About Chang’e 5 in brief
Chang’e 5 is a robotic mission of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. It was launched on 23 November 2020 at 20: 30 UTC from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Hainan Island. It landed on the Moon on 1 December 2020, followed by returning to Earth with lunar samples on 16 December 2020. It is China’s first sample-return mission and the first lunar sample- return mission since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 in 1976. The mission’s landing zone is near Mons Rümker in Oceanus Procellarum, located in the northwest region of the Moon’s near side. This area contains geological units around 1.21 billion years old, compared to the Apollo samples that were between 3. 1 and 4. 4billion years old. It’s hoped that the young age of the samples collected will allow scientists to improve calibration techniques for estimating the ages of geological surfaces on planets, moons and asteroids throughout the Solar System. The program aims to facilitate a crewed lunar landing in the 2030s and possibly build an outpost near the lunar south pole.
The probe consists of four modules or components: The estimated launch mass is 8,200 kg, the lander is projected to be 1,200 kg and the ascent vehicle is about 500 kg. The lander carries landing cameras, a panoramic camera, a spectrometer to determine mineral composition, a soil gas analytical instrument, a sampling sectional thermo-detector, and a ground-penetrating radar. This probe was planned to be launched in November 2017 by a Long March 5 rocket, but a July 2017 failure of the referenced carrier rocket forced a delay to the original schedule. On 27 December 2019, the LongMarch 5 successfully returned to flight operations, thereby allowing the current mission to proceed. The Chang’e 5 probe is equipped with a robotic arm, a rotary-percussive drill, a scoop for sampling, and separation tubes.
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This page is based on the article Chang’e 5 published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 20, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
