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CHINA-SPACE
China prepares moon probe to bring back lunar rocks
BEIJING, Nov 23, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – China is preparing to launch an unmanned
spacecraft to bring back lunar rocks, the first attempt by any nation to
retrieve samples from the moon in four decades.
Beijing is pouring billions into its military-run space programme, with
hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022 and of eventually sending
humans to the moon.
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.
The mission is set to take off from the Wenchang Space Center in the
southern island province of Hainan, according to official Xinhua news agency.
No date was provided.
The original mission, planned for 2017, was delayed due to an engine
failure in China’s Long March 5 launch rocket.
If successful, China will be only the third country to have retrieved
samples from the moon, following the United States and the Soviet Union in
the 1960s and 1970s.
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.
If successfully launched, the probe is expected to land on the moon in late
November and collect material during one lunar day — equivalent to around 14
Earth days.
The samples will be returned to Earth in a capsule programmed to land in
Inner Mongolia in early December, according to US space agency NASA.
The mission is technically challenging and involves several innovations not
seen during previous attempts at collecting moon rocks, said Jonathan
McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
“The US never did a robotic sample return. The Soviet one was very limited
and could only land at certain restricted spots,” McDowell told AFP.
“China’s system will be the most flexible and capable robotic sample return
system yet.”
A Chinese lunar rover landed on the far side of the moon in January 2019,
in a global first that boosted Beijing’s ambitions to become a space
superpower.
It was the second Chinese probe to land on the moon, following the Yutu
(“Jade Rabbit”) rover mission in 2013.
The latest Chang’e-5 probe is among a slew of ambitious targets set by
Beijing, which include creating a super-powerful rocket capable of delivering
payloads heavier than those NASA and private rocket firm SpaceX can handle, a
moon base, a permanently crewed space station, and a Mars rover.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1521 hrs