China Moon Probe Chang'e-5 begins its Journey Back to Earth
A Chinese spacecraft, Chang'e-5 carrying rocks and soil from the moon has begun its journey back to Earth. The Chang'e-5 was launched on Nov. 24 and a lander vehicle touched down on the moon on Dec. 1. The mission was expected to take around 23 days in total. The mission's plan was to collect 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of samples, although it has not been disclosed how much was actually gathered.
Chang'e 5, China's largest and most sophisticated lunar probe, has four main components-an orbiter, lander, ascender and reentry capsule. The spacecraft was launched by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket on Nov 24 at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, setting out on China's most challenging lunar adventure and the world's first mission since 1976 to bring lunar samples to Earth.
Lunar samples collected by China's Chang'e 5 robotic probe has started their journey toward Earth, according to the China National Space Administration.
The lander-ascender combination landed on the moon, becoming the world's third spacecraft to touch down on the lunar surface this century after its predecessors-Chang'e 3 and 4.Shortly after the landing, it began to use a drill to obtain samples from 2 meters beneath the lunar surface.
The 400-kilogram ascender docked with the 2.3-metric ton orbiter-reentry capsule combination early on Sunday morning and then transferred a sealed container holding 2 kilograms of lunar samples into the capsule.
After arriving in Earth orbit, the pair will separate in due course, and
the reentry capsule will conduct a series of complicated maneuvers to
return to a preset landing site in North China's Inner Mongolia
autonomous region in mid-December.
Engineers at the 25th Institute of China Aerospace Science and Industry
Corp Second Academy designed and built the devices. They applied
multiple advanced technologies to the apparatus, making them the best of
their kind in the world, said Sun Wu, the equipment's chief designer at
the institute.
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