For the first time in 44 years, he has carried a probe lunar samples on Earth. With the Chang’e 5 mission completed, China is now joining a very exclusive club, reinforcing the country’s role as a major player in space exploration.
Now China is only the third country to collect samples of the Moon and carry them on earth. The last time this happened was in 1976, when the Soviet Union did the same as part of its Luna 24 mission. NASA, during the course of its six Apollo missions, managed to collect and recover 842 kilos of lunar regolith and rocks.
The Chinese capsule containing the samples landed at Siziwang Banner, just north of the Inner Mongolia region of China, at 1:59 local time, seconds to the National Space Administration of China (CNSA). The Chang’e 5 mission included many developments for the Chinese space program, including the first lunar sampling and sealing mission, the first lunar orbit appointment and berth, and the first spacecraft to make an atmospheric re-entry with samples on board. as Xinhua Chinese State Media reports.
The capsule was 3,100 miles (5,000 km) above the Southwest Atlanticcean when it separated from orbit. Before taking the big step, the capsule bounced off the atmosphere as it traveled at 11.2 km / s and 7 miles per second, which it did to reduce its speed, reducing it to 7.9 km / s. 5 miles per second more manageable. ). A parachute allowed him to drift safely to the surface, where he was retrieved by ground crews. Xinhua reports, the recovery team will briefly inspect the capsule and take it to Beijing for further analysis.
Specifically, the sealed samples will be “transferred to laboratories specially designed for analysis, experiments and testing, so that scientists can determine the composition, structure and features of extraterrestrial substances, thus deepening their knowledge of history. of the Moon and the Solar System “. and CNSA. “A certain proportion of the samples will also be shown to the public to raise scientific awareness among the public, especially the younger generations, according to sources close to the mission.”
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China said it will make the samples available to other countries, such as CNN reports.
CNSA described the Chang’e 5 mission as “China’s most sophisticated and challenging space adventure.” In fact, it was the most complex space project ever attempted by the nation, lasting 23 days and involving many moving parts and possible points of failure.
The mission began on November 24, when a heavy Long March rocket delivered a set consisting of an orbiting, terrifying, ascending, and re-entry capsule. The lander separated from the lunar orbit on November 30, landing on the lunar surface the next day. As an interesting aside, China remains the only country in the 21st century that has successfully delivered landers to the lunar surface (the others are Chang’e 3 and Chang’e 4 landers). Attempts to India in 2017 i Israel in 2019 to do the same ended in catastrophic failure.
The lander was placed in Mons Rümker: isolated volcanic formation located in the Oceanus Procellarum region of the Moon. This gigantic flat of lava was probably created by one impact, and has so far never been explored.
With the drill, the Chang’e 5 lander pulled 500 ounces (500 grams) of material from under the surface, while its robotic arm picked up more than 1.5 kg (3.5 pounds). The research team will have to confirm tthese amounts once the capsule is opened. After storing the samples in a vacuum chamber, the lander planted a Chinese flag on the surface, said goodbye to the Moon and then it rejoined the orbit on Dec. 3, it was the “first time a Chinese spacecraft exploded against an alien body,” according to CNSA.
Now completed, this mission will help further China’s ambitions in space. The CNSA has shown, for example, that it can return samples from another celestial body and perform coupling in lunar orbit. Even among the nation’s missions are even more daring missions possible, including sending Chinese astronauts, known as “yuhangyuans” and sometimes “taikonauts” into space and the moon. intentions.
This is the second time in 11 days that a spacecraft has taken off extraterrestrial material on Earth. On December 6, the Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 successfully fallen a capsule containing surface material of the asteroid Ryugu. Apparently, that’s what we do now (and there is more to come thanks to NASA’s OSIRIX-Rex), which is pretty cool.