China's Chang'e 5 mission, which aims to bring new lunar samples back to Earth, is proceeding as planned. The ascent stage took off successfully a few hours ago. He is now preparing his encounter with the orbiter to transfer his precious loot to it.
On November 23, China successfully launched its ambitious Chang'e 5 mission, which aims to bring back to Earth the first new lunar samples since the American Apollo program (1969 to 1972) and the Soviet Luna 16 mission (1970).
So far, everything is going as planned. Five days after its launch from the Chinese space base in Wenchang, the spacecraft has indeed successfully inserted itself into lunar orbit. The orbiter (which houses the returning spacecraft) and its lander (which also houses the ascent module) then separated the following day. Then, on December 1, the lander of the Chinese Chang'e 5 mission finally landed successfully, beginning its first sample collection a few hours later.
These operations are now complete. Now is the time to go home. With this in mind, the ascent stage, which was above the lander Chang'e 5, took off from Oceanus Procellarum this Thursday at 4:10 p.m. (French time) taking with him his lunar samples. Six minutes later, the ascent craft has finally reached lunar orbit where it must now meet the orbiter Chang'e 5 to transfer its precious cargo to it. .
This next docking is an extremely complicated maneuver. It will all be a matter of calculations. Due to the inherent communication delay of over 380,000 kilometers separating China from the Moon, the encounter will indeed be automated. The two spacecraft will begin their final approach around the Moon this Saturday, December 5 , time for them to synchronize their orbit, and will finish docking 3.5 hours later .
If all goes well, China will then prepare for the final leg of its journey:bringing the first lunar samples back to Earth in 44 years .
The return ship will have to wait a few days in lunar orbit, however, while a narrow window opens for the shortest possible travel time. This return journey should normally take 112 hours (i.e. a little over four and a half days) before the attempt to return. From then on, the ship will then have to deliver its precious "loot" to Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, in mid-December. As a reminder, it is also on this site that Chinese taikonauts generally land, aboard their Shenzhou capsule.
