(Credit: CNSA)
China has successfully launched from the Wenchang spacecraft launch site the new Chinese lunar probe Chang'e-5.
The robot will take soil samples from the volcanic region in the Ocean of Storms and return it to Earth.
Chang'e-5 became a new stage of the Chinese lunar program. In this framework, the probe must land on the surface of Moon take a soil sample and deliver it to Earth.
The landing site was chosen near the 70-kilometer Rümker Peak volcano, located in the Ocean of Storms in the northwestern part of the visible side of the Moon.
This location will allow to obtain a soil sample only 1.2 billion years, which is much younger than the samples brought to Earth by astronauts in during the Apollo program.
With that precious information, we will learn more about the evolution and origin of the Moon and Earth.
In total, four modules are involved in the mission, and their total weight is about 8 tons.
The flight from near-earth orbit to circumlunar and back will provide a service module.
After entering the lunar orbit, the descent module will separate from the service module, which is equipped with cameras, a spectrometer, a drill and a manipulator.
The manipulator is capable of obtaining a soil sample from a depth of up to two meters, with a total mass of up to two kilograms.
The landing on the moon will take place at the beginning of a lunar day.
Then the soil sample will be transferred to the takeoff module, which will enter the lunar orbit, where it will dock with the service module. The soil samples will then be placed in a return capsule.
Finally the service module will fly to Earth and, at a distance of 5000 kilometers from the planet, it will drop the capsule into the atmosphere , which should land softly with a parachute.
If Chang'e-5 fulfills all the tasks, China will become the third country to deliver a sample of lunar soil to Earth.
Later, China plans to use its Chang'e-6 robot to collect soil samples from the polar region of the Moon.
Sources:
- Nasaspaceflight: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/11/change5-sample-return-launch/
- YouTube:
BIEN...
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