China's Chang'e 5 mission

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China has officially announced their Chang'e 5 mission to bring back a sample from the moon will be launched in the second half of 2017

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20..._135391390.htm

China will send lunar probe Chang'e 5 to land on the moon and return with lunar samples in the second half of 2017, according to State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) on Friday.

It will be the first time a Chinese probe to land on the moon, collect samples and return to Earth, and the third stage of China's lunar exploration endeavor, said the SASTIND.

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More information by Andrew Jones on the Chang'e 5 mission and future moon plans by China.

http://gbtimes.com/china/china-retur...et-lunar-poles

China will launch its Chang'e-5 probe to return samples from the Moon in 2017, and is considering future missions to the lunar polar regions.

Chang’e-5 will launch from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre in the second half of next year on top of a new generational Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket, which will make its first flight around September this year.

The news was announced by the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) in Beijing on Friday.

If Chang’e-5 is successful it will be the first lunar sample return since Luna 24 by the USSR in 1976, and make China only the third country to return samples from the surface.

The complex mission involves landing and take-off from the Moon’s surface, robotic rendezvous and docking 380,000 kilometres away in lunar orbit, and returning a secured sample to Earth at the required high velocity.

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China's Chang’e-5 to Land on the Ocean of Storms in late 2017

http://www.chinatopix.com/articles/9...-late-2017.htm

China's Chang'e-5 surface sample return mission will land on the Moon's Ocean of Storms in the second half of 2017, revealed Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's Moon Exploration program.

This vast lunar mare on the western edge of the near side of the Moon is the resting place of the Soviet Union's Luna 9 and Luna 13 lunar probes, as well as Surveyor 1 and Surveyor 3 from the United States. Apollo 12, the second American manned spacecraft to land on the Moon, also touched down on the Ocean of Storms, otherwise known as Oceanus Procellarum.

Wu said the Ocean of Storms is a huge region and China wants to avoid having Chang'e-5 touch down on the landing spots of the Soviet and American spacecraft. He admitted China is looking for an "unprecedented landing site" for Chang'e-5 but wouldn't be more specific.

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China has announced Chang'e 5 will be launched late November this year.

http://gbtimes.com/china/china-attem...ssion-november

"China has announced that its Chang'e-5 automated Moon surface sampling and return mission will launch in late November 2017.

The 8.2-tonne probe will launch on a Long March 5 rocket from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Centre on Hainan island, and attempt the first lunar sample return since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 mission in 1976.

The mission will be complex, with some of the key technologies and techniques involved will also be applicable for a Chinese Mars sample return mission, planned for around 2030, as well as future crewed journeys to the lunar surface."

From the Chinese press

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/20..._136004958.htm

"The mission will be China's first automated moon surface sampling, first moon take-off, first unmanned docking in a lunar orbit about 380,000 km from earth, and first return flight in a speed close to second cosmic velocity, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC).

"With a weight of 8.2 tonnes, the lunar probe is comprised of four parts: an orbiter, a returner, an ascender and a lander," said Ye Peijian, one of China's leading aerospace experts and a consultant to the program."


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With China's annual parliamentary sessions starting senior space officials will be present. It is a good time for reporters to interview them on China's space plans. This year is no exception.

http://gbtimes.com/china/change-5-sa...aunch-november

"China's lunar probe Chang'e-5 will be delivered to the Wenchang launch site in August in preparation for its launch by a heavy-lift Long March 5 rocket in late November.

Ye Peijian, a senior official involved in lunar exploration and attached to the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), confirmed the move to China Central Television ahead of the country's annual parliamentary sessions in Beijing.

The complex mission will involve a number of stages and components, involving lunar soft-landing, collecting samples, ascent from the Moon, a docking in lunar orbit, heading home and reentry into the Earth's atmosphere."

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ESA to play a critical role in China's Chang'e 5 mission.

http://gbtimes.com/china/esa-assist-...-moon-and-back

"Following an agreement between European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) and China, the ESA tracking network (ESTRACK) will use two ground stations to receive signals and send commands, thus providing a vital link between the Chinese spacecraft and the ground.

Paolo Ferri, Head of the Mission Operations Department at ESOC, explains that ESTRACK support is fundamental for the success of the mission as it supports time and mission critical activities.

Two 15m antennae will support two critical phases of the Chang’e-5 mission: the initial phase after launch, with the ground station at Kourou in French Guyana, and the final phase, in which the sample-return capsule returns to Earth, supported by the station of Maspalomas* in the Canary Islands."

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China has now indicated the landing area of Chang'e 5.

http://mobile.shanghaidaily.com/nati.../shdaily.shtml

"CHINA'S Chang'e 5 lunar probe is expected to land in the Mons Rumker region, and to take moon samples back to earth at the end of the year, according to a Chinese space official.

Liu Jizhong, director of China Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center of China National Space Administration (CNSA), for the first time disclosed the probe landing site, an isolated volcanic formation located in the northwest part of the Moon's near side."

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Confirmation that the failure of the second LM-5 rocket will delay the launch of Chang’e-5 to next year.

http://spacenews.com/long-march-5-fa...ation-program/

A leading official of China’s space program confirmed Sept. 25 that the July failure of the country’s largest launch vehicle will lead to delays to upcoming lunar missions, including one to return samples.

Tian Yulong, secretary general of the China National Space Administration, said at a press conference during the 68th International Astronautical Congress here that the investigation into the July 2 failure of the Long March 5 on its second mission was ongoing, with no updates on the cause of the failure.

“The Long March 5 is a bigger challenge for China’s space agency,” he said. “In the future, maybe the end of the year, we will have a clear understanding of the problem.”

Observers who followed the launch, broadcast live by Chinese television, noted a plume of gas late in the first stage burn, which suggested the failure was linked to an issue with the stage’s engines or other elements of its propulsion system. Chinese officials waited until 45 minutes after the launch to announce the launch had failed and its payload, the Shijian-18 communications satellite, failed to reach orbit.

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China is preparing to send Chang'e 5 to the moon to bring back some moon rocks next year.

https://gbtimes.com/change-5-chinas-...n?cat=business

When the Soviet Luna 24 mission carried out humanity's last lunar sample return mission in 1976, it did so using a direct launch from the Moon to carry 170g of Moon regolith to Earth.

China's first attempt, Chang'e-5, which is expected to launch sometime in 2019, is going to be more complex, as a recent documentary giving rare insight into mission preparations shows.

The four-part spacecraft includes a service module, lander, ascent unit, and a return vehicle. After the small matter of soft-landing on the Moon and collecting samples, the ascent module will blast off into lunar orbit where it will need to dock with the service module, close to 400,000 kilometers away from Earth.

The samples will be transferred from the ascent vehicle to the reentry capsule, which itself will separate from the service module a few thousand kilometers from Earth before reentry and landing.

While the extra complexity brings new challenges, it may well also bring experience for future lunar projects and Mars sample return missions, as well as human Moon landings in the 2030s.

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Confirmation that Chang'e-5 will launch next year. But this still depends on another successful launch of the upgraded Long March 5 this year.

https://gbtimes.com/chinas-change-5-...9?cat=business

China is planning to launch its ambitious lunar sample return mission, Chang'e-5, in 2019, once the required Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket has successfully returned to flight.

Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), told a space conference marking China's Space Day on Tuesday that the complex, four-part spacecraft will liftoff next year.

The Chang'e-5 spacecraft includes a service module, lander, ascent unit, and a return vehicle. After soft-landing on the Moon and collecting around 2 kilograms of samples, the ascent module will blast off into lunar orbit where it will need to dock with the service module, close to 400,000 kilometers away from Earth.

The samples will be transferred from the ascent vehicle to the reentry capsule, which itself will separate from the service module a few thousand kilometres from Earth before reentry and landing in Siziwang Banner in Inner Mongolia.

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"Chang'e 5 lunar probe to get boost from AI"

http://www.ecns.cn/news/2019-07-08/d...v5569495.shtml

Artificial intelligence technologies will make the Chang'e 5 lunar probe smart enough in soft landings, collecting samples, ascending and docking at the lunar orbit, and returning to the Earth, according to its chief scientist.

Ouyang Ziyuan, first chief scientist of China's lunar probe project, said on Friday at a satellite forum in Rizhao, Shandong province, that Chinese scientists have made technological breakthroughs in the 12 phases of the Chang'e 5 mission.

The technological breakthroughs cover launching, earth-moon transfers, final braking, orbiting, descending, sampling, ascending, docking, orbiting, moon-earth transfers, separating, and reentry and recovery.

Ouyang said the total payload of the Chang'e 5 mission will be 8.2 tons and will be launched by a new carrier rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan province.

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"China’s Lunar Sample Handling Plans Detailed"

http://www.leonarddavid.com/chinas-l...lans-detailed/

A glimpse into China’s readiness to handle samples from the Moon reveals steps to be taken for storage, processing and preparation of the specimens.

China’s Chang’e-5 robotic lunar sample return mission is slated for liftoff later this year. That venture represents the third phase of China’s lunar exploration project -returning samples from the Moon.

The reported candidate landing region for China’s Chang’e‐5 lunar sample return mission is the Rümker region, located in the northern Oceanus Procellarum. The area is geologically complex and known for its volcanic activity.

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"Scientists Map Lunar Craters in Candidate Landing Area of Chang'e-5"

http://english.cas.cn/newsroom/resea...8_241181.shtml

Chang’e-5 (CE-5) is scheduled to be launched by the end of 2020, which is the only lunar sample-return mission since Apollo 17. The planned landing area is near Mons Rümker in Oceanus Procellarum.

A research team from the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has made a precise lunar crater map within the planned landing area of CE-5, as well as a surface age analysis of the craters. The study was published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

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"China is quietly preparing for November launch of the Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission"

https://spacenews.com/china-is-quiet...eturn-mission/

China has initiated preparations to launch Chang’e-5, a mission seeking to collect and return the first lunar samples since the 1970s.

Chang’e-5 aims to collect and return around two kilograms of lunar samples and was earlier slated for launch before the end of 2020. Ship tracking and satellite data now indicate that China is readying for launch in late November.

Specialized cargo ships Yuanwang-21 and -22 are understood to have collected Long March 5 components from the northern port city of Tianjin, the point of manufacture, and are currently transporting them to Qinglan, Hainan island. The components will then be delivered by road to Wenchang Satellite Launch Center.

Yuanwang-21 and 22 in May transported the Long March 5 rocket used to launch the Tianwen-1 Mars mission in late July from Tianjin to Hainan.

China’s four previous Long March 5 launches took around 60 days to go from delivery to Wenchang to liftoff. The Yuanwang ships are due to reach Qinlan September 19, indicating launch is now likely in the last ten days of November.

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"Lunar mission due by end of this year"

http://www.ecns.cn/news/2020-09-22/d...p8471957.shtml

Chang'e 5, the next mission in China's lunar exploration program, will demonstrate and test the country's technological and engineering capabilities in space, according to a key figure in the project.

Yu Dengyun, deputy chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, said on Sunday that Chang'e 5 will be launched by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province by the end of 2020.

The 8.2-metric-ton robotic probe has four components－an orbiter, lander, ascender and re-entry module. After the probe reaches lunar orbit, the components will separate into two parts, with the orbiter and re-entry module remaining in orbit while the lander and ascender descend to the lunar surface.

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"China Preps for Next Moon Mission – Sample Return"

https://www.leonarddavid.com/china-p...sample-return/

The Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site located in Wenchang City of south China’s Hainan Province is ramping up preparations for the launch of the Chang’e-5 lunar probe.

The reported preferred candidate landing region for China’s next robotic mission is the Rümker region, located in the northern Oceanus Procellarum. The touchdown area is geologically complex and known for its volcanic activity.

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"China set to retrieve first Moon rocks in 40 years"

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03064-z

Later this month, a Chinese spacecraft will travel to the Moon to scoop up lunar rocks for the first time in more than 40 years. The mission, named Chang’e-5, is the latest in a series of increasingly complex trips to the lunar surface led by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), following its first touchdown of a craft, Chang’e-4, on the Moon’s far side last year.

“To take it to the next level and return samples from the Moon is a significant technological capability,” says Carolyn van der Bogert, a planetary geologist at the University of Münster, Germany.

The craft is expected to take off on 24 November from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island. Its original launch, planned for 2017, was delayed because of an engine failure in China’s Long March 5 launch rocket.

Chang’e-5’s mission is to collect dust and debris from a previously unexplored region of the Moon’s near side and return them to Earth. If the mission is successful, it will retrieve the first lunar material since the US and Soviet missions in the 1960s and 1970s. Lunar scientists will be eager to study the new samples because of what they might learn about the Moon’s evolution. The material could also help researchers more accurately date the surfaces of planets such as Mars and Mercury.

“The landing site was extremely wisely picked,” says Harald Hiesinger, a geologist also at the University of Münster.

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"map of proposed landing sites"

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/in...926#msg2151926

map of proposed landing sites

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"Rocket to lift Chang'e 5 moved to launch pad"

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20201...ba949b9_1.html

The rocket to lift Chang'e 5, the latest mission in China's lunar exploration program, was moved to its launch pad in the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on Tuesday morning, according to the China National Space Administration.

The 57-meter Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket, which weighs about 870 metric tons, was vertically placed on a mobile platform that moved about two hours before transporting the gigantic rocket to a coastal launch pad, the administration said in a statement.

The launch has been scheduled to take place before the end of this month, it noted.

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More details from Andrew Jones.

https://spacenews.com/china-rolls-ou...eturn-mission/

China has rolled out a Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket in preparation for launch of the complex Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission early next week.

The roughly 878-metric-ton heavy-lift Long March 5 was vertically transferred from an assembly building to its launch area late Monday Eastern in a process that took around two hours.

Launch of the 8.2-metric-ton Chang’e-5 spacecraft from the coastal Wenchang Satellite Launch Center is now expected Nov. 24 local time. State media reports have so far only confirmed the launch will take place in late November.

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The support need for the Chang'e-5 mission are falling intoplace.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/202..._139529854.htm

China's second-generation space tracking ship Yuanwang-3 left here Thursday for missions concerning the Chang'e-5 lunar probe, according to sources with the country's satellite maritime tracking and controlling department.

China's Chang'e-5 mission, which is scheduled to be launched late this month, will bring moon samples back to Earth, making it one of the country's most complicated and challenging space explorations.

Yuanwang-3 mainly undertakes maritime tracking and monitoring tasks of high-, medium- and low-orbit satellites, spacecraft and space stations.

http://www.esa.int/Enabling_Support/..._Moon_missions

ESA ground stations support Moon missions

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Huh? I actually watched live coverage of the successful launch by Everyday Astronaut. Kudos.

Is this new?

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Huh? I actually watched live coverage of the successful launch by Everyday Astronaut. Kudos.

Is this new?

Yes it is. Luck you watching the actual launch. Too early for me. Here are more details.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1207822.shtml

The Long March-5 Y5, China's state-of-the-art carrier rocket and strongest member of the Long March launch vehicle family, blasted off early Tuesday morning from the Wenchang Space Launch Center located in South China's Hainan Province, successfully sending the Chang'e-5 lunar probe into planned orbit.

About 2,200 seconds after lift-off, the Chang'e-5 lunar probe separated from the rocket and entered the Earth-Moon transfer orbit with the perigee at 200 km and the apogee at about 410,000 km.

Despite the difficulties brought by the COVID-19 epidemic, China's aerospace sector has been able to launch not only the country's first-ever Tianwen-1 Mars probe, but also the latest lunar sample return mission, showcasing the country's resilience and increasingly mature capabilities in the space sphere, according to observers.

Dubbed one of the most complicated and challenging space exploration projects ever attempted, Chang'e-5 will carry out the third stage of China's current lunar programs, which involves three phases—orbiting, landing and return. The first two phases have been completed successfully.

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The "South China Morning Post" also covered the mission. What caught my eye was the US reaction to the launch.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/scie...ck-earth-faces

Nasa issued a somewhat stern statement after the Chinese launch.

“With Chang’e 5, China has launched an effort to join the US & the former Soviet Union in obtaining lunar samples,” the US space agency said on Twitter.

“We hope China shares its data with the global scientific community to enhance our understanding of the moon like our Apollo missions did & the Artemis programme will.”

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"The Conversation" now talks of a possible space race.

https://theconversation.com/change-5...ce-race-150665

China has been the only country to land on the Moon for over 40 years – since the Soviet Luna programme. Its recent Chang’e missions (1-4) demonstrated that China could not only orbit and land on the Moon, but also successfully operate a rover. On November 24, the Chinese National Space Administration launched Chang’e 5 – the latest in the series.

This mission to collect and return samples is impressive. Recent failed landings on the Moon by an Israeli privately funded mission and the Indian Vikram lander show just how challenging such missions still are.

So is this solely a case of China using space exploration to show the world that its new scientific and technological capabilities rival those in the west? And if so, what are the consequences?

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Andrew Jones on Chang'e-5.

https://spacenews.com/china-launches...eturn-mission/

A detailed timeline of the mission has not been released by China. The spacecraft is expected to be inserted into a roughly 200-kilometer altitude lunar orbit shortly after sunrise over the designated Mons Rümker on November 27.

The landing attempt is expected in the days following. Chinese language journals detailing the Chang’e project technology roadmap state that sampling activities will last around two Earth days. Around two kilograms of drilled and scooped samples will then be sent into lunar orbit by a roughly 500-kilogram ascent vehicle. A two-day period will conclude with rendezvous and docking between the ascent and service modules. The samples will be transferred to a reentry capsule attached the service module.

The service will then separate from the ascent vehicle and remain in lunar orbit until an opportune window to return to Earth. The reentry vehicle will separate from the service module around 5,000 kilometers from Earth. A skip reentry, involving bouncing off the atmosphere—a maneuver tested by the Chang’e-5 T1 mission in 2014—to deal with the high-velocity return from the moon will follow. ESA tracking stations will support this critical phase as the spacecraft attempts reentry.

Samples will then be transferred to specially constructed facilities for handling, analyzing and storing the lunar material.

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"China's Chang'e-5 probe completes first orbital correction"

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/202..._139540645.htm

China's lunar probe Chang'e-5 successfully carried out its first orbital correction Tuesday night, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

The probe conducted the orbital correction at 10:06 p.m. (Beijing Time) when its 3000N engine was operational for about two seconds, and then continued its trip to the moon.

Prior to the orbital correction, the lunar probe had traveled for roughly 17 hours in space, and was about 160,000 km away from Earth. All of the probe's systems were in good condition, said the CNSA.

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"China's Chang'e-5 probe completes second orbital correction"

http://www.ecns.cn/news/sci-tech/202...h1835487.shtml

China's lunar probe Chang'e-5 successfully carried out its second orbital correction Wednesday night, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

The probe conducted the orbital correction at 10:06 p.m. (Beijing Time), when its two 150N engines were operational for about six seconds.

Prior to the orbital correction, the lunar probe had traveled for roughly 41 hours in orbit, and was about 270,000 km away from Earth. All of the probe's systems were in good condition.

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China's launch of Chang'e-5 is seen as a threat to the US, by US Space Force General John Raymond.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/dipl...-lunar-mission

Rivalry between China and the United States in space exploration has reached new heights, with a US general saying China was a threat that could block American access to space.

Just days after the launch of Beijing’s first lunar mission to bring samples back to Earth, US Space Force General John Raymond said the United States had to strengthen ties with its allies to handle the “threat” from China and Russia over space.

Raymond’s comments came as the head of the Chinese space administration said the nation would launch more lunar probes and invite other countries to join China on its missions.

The China-US space rivalry intensified after a Long March-5 rocket carrying the Chang’e-5 lunar spacecraft blasted off from Wenchang, Hainan province, on Tuesday morning.

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"*POSSIBLE* LANDING OF CHINA’S CHANG’E-5 ON LUNAR SURFACE, Nov 29, 2020, ~3:30 pm ET"

https://spacepolicyonline.com/events...020-330-pm-et/

China has not released a timeline of events for its lunar sample return mission Chang’e-5, which was launched on November 23. However, China space watcher @Cosmic Penguin obtained information that indicates the lunar landing is planned for November 29 about 3:30 pm EST (20:30 UTC).