China launches Chang'e-5 lunar mission with Long March-5 rocket
- by Jake Bell
- in Research
- — Nov 23, 2020
Since the Soviet Union crashed Luna 2 on the moon in 1959, the first man-made object to reach another celestial body, Japan and some other countries, including India, have launched moon missions.
The spacecraft is relied upon to launch from Wenchang Space Launch Center on Hainan Island, China, early Tuesday local time, which will be about 3:25 p.m. ET on Monday, as indicated by Space Launch Now, a site that tracks rocket launches the world over.
If the latest probe is successful, China will become the third country to have retrieved lunar rock, after the U.S. and the USSR.
The Chang'e-5 probe, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, aims to shovel up lunar rocks and soil to help scientists learn about the moon's origins, formation and volcanic activity on its surface. If successful, China will be only the third country ever to have retrieved samples from the moon, following the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1976 the last - Luna 24 recovered 170.1 grams of samples from Mare Crisium.
The Chinese probe will collect two kilograms (4.5 pounds) of surface material in a previously unexplored area known as Oceanus Procellarum - or "Ocean of Storms" - which consist of a vast lava plain, according to the science journal Nature.
More news: Oxford University Covid-19 Vaccine Found To Be 70 Percent EffectiveSubsequent knowledge from orbital distant sensing missions have proven a wider range of rock varieties, mineralogies and ages than represented within the Apollo-Luna pattern collections, he mentioned.
"Lunar scientists have been advocating for robotic sample return missions to these many different critical areas in order to address a host of fundamental questions remaining from earlier exploration".
The Chang'-5 mission can help answer questions such as how long the moon was internally active and when its magnetic field - important to protect any form of life from the sun's radiation - disintegrates.
In the 1970s, the Soviet Union extended three successful robotic sample return missions.
China made its first lunar landing in 2013 and plans to retrieve samples from Mars within a decade.
More news: Queen Elizabeth, Philip get anniversary card from great-grandkidsIn January previous year, the Chang'e-4 probe touched down on the far side of the Moon, the first to do so by any nation's space probe.
It is to be developed by means of the Chang'e-6, 7 and eight missions by means of the 2020s and expanded by means of the 2030s forward of manned landings.
"China's system will be the most flexible and capable robotic sample return system yet".
In July, China on its first independent voyage to Mars introduced unmanned aerial vehicle to another planet. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned.
More news: Explainer: Trump’s election challenges falling flat in court
