China’s Chang'e-5 has change its orbit and now flies to the moon

(CNSA/CLEP)

Radio amateurs tracking the service module of the Chinese lunar mission Chang'e-5 noticed the ship left orbit around the first Lagrange point in the Sun-Earth system and again headed for the Moon.

The module can enter a circumlunar orbit, go to other Lagrange points or fly to a near-Earth asteroid.

Chang'e-5 became the first of two automatic stations of China’s lunar program.

The mission started on November 23 last year, and its main stage was completed on December 16.

The scientific flight program was successful: China became the third country to deliver lunar soil to Earth (1.73 kilograms of samples of record young soil).

The mission also made the first automatic docking of spacecraft in circumlunar orbit, and even conducted a biological experiment with rice seeds.

To date, the mission cannot be called fully completed, since the service module Chang'e-5 has been extended indefinitely.

The Chinese space agency (CNSA) sent the module to the first Lagrange point in the Sun-Earth system, in orbit around which it has been since mid-March this year.

On August 30, radio amateurs who were monitoring the device noticed that the module had left its orbit and again headed for the Moon, which could fly around on September 9.

The Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, which is responsible for communication with spacecraft, has not yet confirmed the fact that Chang'e-5 left the vicinity of the first Lagrange point

Plans for further movements of the module are also unknown.

Depending on the fuel supply, it can enter a circumlunar orbit, go to other Lagrange points in the Sun-Earth or Earth-Moon systems, or head towards the asteroid 469219.

Source:

• Space News: https://spacenews.com/chinas-change-5-orbiter-is-heading-back-to-the-moon/

•   Twitter: https://twitter.com/coastal8049/status/1434593900103090181?s=20 
  

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