China's Chang'e 5 mission

[selvaarchi]

Now we have a pretty young lady that youngsters can look up to in the Chang'e-5 mission.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55226099

A 24-year-old female space commander has become a viral sensation on Chinese social media for her work on the Chang'e-5 Moon exploration programme.

Despite being the youngest commander at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Zhou Chengyu is known at work as "Big Sister" as a sign of respect.

The Chang'e-5 mission is China's third successful Moon landing in seven years.

Ms Zhou was in charge of the rocket connector system - described as a pivotal role.

[selvaarchi]

"Sampling the Moon’s Surface: Innovation, Precision and Reliability"

https://www.leonarddavid.com/samplin...d-reliability/

The Moon sampling mission adopted two methods of lunar surface sampling: one using a robotic arm for multiple-point surface sample collections, and the other to drill underground.

[selvaarchi]

"Chang'e 5 makes 1st moon-Earth transfer injection maneuver to return home"

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20201...d0ba9b6de.html

The orbiter-reentry capsule combination of China's Chang'e 5 robotic probe carried out its first moon-Earth transfer injection maneuver on Saturday morning, placing itself in an elliptical lunar orbit, according to China National Space Administration.

The combination had been traveling in a near-circular lunar orbit for nearly six days before conducting the maneuver, which is intended to enable the spacecraft to shift toward a moon-Earth transfer trajectory, the administration said in a statement.

It added that the combination will perform a second injection in due course to get away from the moon's gravity and finally enter its trajectory back to Earth.

[selvaarchi]

"Orbiter-returner of Chang'e-5 enters moon-Earth transfer orbit"

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-12-1...Y5i/index.html

The orbiter-returner of China's Chang'e-5 probe has entered the moon-Earth transfer orbit after completing two orbital maneuvers, China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on Sunday.

At about 230 kilometers from the lunar surface, the orbiter and returner fired four engines and shot into the moon-Earth transfer orbit at 9:51 a.m. BJT.

After about 22 minutes, engines shut down as the orbiter-returner successfully entered the assigned orbit.

The moon-Earth transfer orbit, also known as the Hohmann Transfer, is a fuel-efficient path allowing spacecrafts transferring between orbits by using fuels as little as possible.

The combined orbiter and returner vehicles now has escaped the lunar gravity and set it on a path toward Earth.

[publiusr]

Wonderful

[Roger E. Moore]

Chinese capsule with moon rocks begins return to Earth. The Chang’e 5 lunar probe, which had been orbiting the moon for about a week, fired up four engines for about 22 minutes to move out of the moon’s orbit, the China National Space Administration said in a social media post.

https://apnews.com/article/china-moo...7a9b8f4b433671

[selvaarchi]

The Moon samples to land on earth on December 17.

https://www.leonarddavid.com/china-m...back-to-earth/

The orbiter/returner of China’s Chang’e-5 mission has attained a Moon-Earth transfer orbit, expected to land on Earth in Inner Mongolia on December 17th.

[selvaarchi]

"Landing site ready to receive China's Chang'e-5 lunar probe"

http://www.ecns.cn/news/sci-tech/202...y3496476.shtml

China's Chang'e-5 lunar probe, which is carrying about 2 kg of precious lunar samples, is about to reenter the Earth's atmosphere and touch down at the preset landing site at Siziwang Banner of North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. All systems at the landing site are ready to deliver quality services to ensure the success of the last stage of the mission, according to landing site authorities on Tuesday.

The search team, a special squad deployed by the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, has conducted numerous night time drills, despite the challenges brought by the heavy snow and bitter cold in the region, Global Times learned from space authorities on Tuesday.

According to the authorities, the reentry capsule of the Chang’e-5 is only one seventh the size of the spaceship, while its landing area is 16 times bigger, adding to the difficulties of the search operation.

[selvaarchi]

"Before Chang'e-5 lands on moon, researchers simulate lunar surface on Earth"

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-12-0...SGY/index.html

As millions of people watched the lander-ascender combination of China's Chang'e-5 spacecraft touched down successfully on the moon surface and unfolded its solar panels in awe and excitement, researchers from the Space Mechanics Team of Tianjin University cheered with a mixed feeling of relief and pride.

Being part of the efforts to ensure the lunar probe's successful landing, the research team led by Professor Cui Yuhong and Professor Wang Jianshan engaged in building ground experimental landing sites for test landing on the extraterrestrial lunar body.

"We designed and built a simulated moon surface with multiple lunar terrains like rocks, craters, and slopes and offered more than 20 terrain combination options, according to technical parameter requirements," said Professor Cui Yuhong.

[selvaarchi]

"Chang'e-5 bringing crops from space"

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/202..._139594458.htm

As the Chang'e-5 probe brings moon samples back to Earth, Chinese scientists are expecting another package from the space trip: a variety of plant seeds that may bring bigger harvests.

According to the Space Breeding Innovation Alliance, its space breeding program was part of the payload.

Seeds, including rice, orchids, alfalfa and oats, embarked on the round trip to the moon on Nov. 24 when the probe was launched.

[Roger E. Moore]

China prepares for return of lunar probe with moon samples.

https://apnews.com/article/technolog...6ddbdb5749c393

[selvaarchi]

"China's Chang'e 5 moon lander is no more after successfully snagging lunar rocks"

https://www.space.com/china-chang-e-...der-is-no-more

China's Chang'e 5 lander touched down on the moon and collected the first lunar samples in nearly 50 years, but now the lights have gone out.

The Chang'e 5 lander was a crucial part of China's daring sample-return mission. It made a stunning descent and soft landing in the moon's Oceanus Procellarum, or "Ocean of Storms," on Dec. 1 before conducting sampling and other science experiments.

The sun set over the solar-powered spacecraft, which landed near the volcanic peak Mons Rümker in the northwest of the near side of the moon, on Friday (Dec. 11). Without the radioisotope heater units carried by the long-lived Chang'e 3 and Chang'e 4 landers, the electronics and systems on Chang'e 5 will succumb to temperatures as low as minus 310 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 190 degrees Celsius).

[Roger E. Moore]

China recovers Chang’e-5 moon samples after complex 23-day mission.

https://spacenews.com/china-recovers...3-day-mission/

[Garrison]

China recovers Chang’e-5 moon samples after complex 23-day mission.

https://spacenews.com/china-recovers...3-day-mission/

Great news, it seems 2020 has been terrible for everything except spaceflight.

[selvaarchi]

China has successfully completed its Chang'e-5 mission. Congratulations China. Now we wait the results of first look of the Luna samples in 40 years.

Next two major challenges for the China space program -

1) Insert their Mars probe into Mars orbit

2) Launch the 1st module of their space station.

http://www.ecns.cn/news/sci-tech/202...y3496925.shtml

The return capsule of China's Chang'e-5 probe touched down on Earth in the early hours of Thursday, bringing back the country's first samples collected from the moon, as well as the world's freshest lunar samples in over 40 years.

The spacecraft landed in Siziwang Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, at 1:59 a.m. (Beijing Time), according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

It marks a successful conclusion of China's current three-step lunar exploration program of orbiting and landing, and bringing back samples, which began in 2004.

[Roger E. Moore]

More on the return of lunar rocks by China's spacecraft.

https://apnews.com/article/china-cap...6ddbdb5749c393

[selvaarchi]

The New York Times on China's successful Chang'e-5 mission and if it might change the relationships with the US.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/16/s...ion-rocks.html

China may have been a latecomer to the moon, but when its capsule full of lunar rocks and soil returned to Earth early Thursday, it set the stage for a new space race over the coming decades. This time, it will be a competition over resources on the moon that could propel deeper space exploration.

The country’s Chang’e-5 spacecraft gathered as much as 4.4 pounds of lunar samples from a volcanic plain known as Mons Rümker in a three-week operation that underlined China’s growing prowess and ambition in space. It was China’s most successful mission to date.

The United States and the Soviet Union competed for supremacy in an epic space race in the 1960s and ’70s, during which they brought back lunar samples, but that was a different era. Now China is in the fray, and today’s competition — once seemingly the realm of science fiction — could be equally intense and more mercantile.

The Chinese are eager to flaunt their technical skills and explore the solar system. Like the United States, the country has a broader goal to establish a lunar base that could exploit its potential resources and serve as a launching pad for more ambitious missions.

[selvaarchi]

Been looking for how much moon soil that the US brought back, was shared with China. Turns out not much - 1-gram

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...960_story.html

This week in China, many citizens marveled at how quickly their country had caught up, particularly vis-a-vis America. Mr. Science, a popular blogger, recalled how the United States had amassed 380 kilograms (837 lbs.) of lunar soil through its Apollo missions and shared a 1-gram speck with Chinese scientists as a gesture of goodwill in 1978 as the two countries established diplomatic relations.

[selvaarchi]

What will China do with the Luna soil they bring back - "China to share portion of lunar samples with scientists from other countries"

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2020-12-1...XSo/index.html

China promised to share a portion of the lunar soil with other nations and organizations based on international cooperation conventions, said the deputy head of China's space agency on Thursday when asked whether China will share samples with NASA.

According to the Outer Space Treaty, outer space resources are the commonwealth of mankind. The Chinese government will act in accordance with the treaty, Wu Yanhua, deputy head of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said while introducing the Chang 'e-5 Lunar Exploration Program at a press conference.

But he also noted the U.S Congress passed a bill in 2012 to restrict NASA from coordinating any joint scientific activity with China.

"So the cooperation depends on the attitude of the U.S. government," said Wu.

[selvaarchi]

How will the Chinese handle the Luna soil? They have built a special Luna Sample Laboratory to handle the samples.

https://www.space.com/china-chang-e-5-moon-samples-lab

In Beijing, CNSA will transfer the lunar materials to the Lunar Sample Laboratory at the National Astronomical Observatory (NAO) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a facility that has been built specially for storage, processing and analysis of the samples.

"The biggest challenge is unsealing in the atmosphere the sample package, which is sealed in a vacuum environment [on the moon]," said Zhang Guangliang, chief designer of the Ground Application System of Chinese Lunar Exploration Project's third phase, in a CCTV interview. "To address that, we have verified several times and designed a special process. We will unpack the samples in a vacuum environment, and transfer them to a nitrogen environment for storage and processing."

"The first thing we consider is to use some damage-free analysis methods as much as possible, such as observation of optical characteristics under a microscope, and spectral measurement in the laboratory," said Zhou Qin, also identified as a chief designer of the Ground Application System of Chinese Lunar Exploration Project's third phase, in a CCTV interview.

"Of course, these measurements will be conducted and analyzed under a special environment such as with high-purity nitrogen, so as to minimize the impact of the Earth's environment on lunar samples," Zhou said. "In addition, we will also do some chemical composition analysis, which will cause damage. We will make analysis comprehensively, and try to obtain more useful information with the smallest sample amount."

[selvaarchi]

"Chang'e-5 moon samples transferred to research teams"

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/202..._139602643.htm

Moon samples collected by China's Chang'e-5 probe have been transferred to the Chinese research teams Saturday morning.

Scientists will carry out the storage, analysis and research of the country's first samples collected from the extraterrestrial object.

[selvaarchi]

About 1.7 kg of Luna rocks and soil were brought back by Chang'e-5.

https://www.moondaily.com/reports/Lu...tists_999.html

About 1,700 grams of lunar rocks and soil brought back by China's Chang'e 5 robotic probe were transferred to Chinese scientists for research on Saturday morning, according to the China National Space Administration.

The samples were handed over by Zhang Kejian, head of the space administration, to Hou Jianguo, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, at a delivery ceremony in Beijing held by the space administration.

The delivery marked the start of research into the samples, the administration said in a statement, adding that it will publish guidelines on the samples' distribution and use and will also encourage scientists from around the world to participate.

[selvaarchi]

"Chang’e-5 orbiter embarks on extended mission to Sun-Earth Lagrange point"

https://spacenews.com/change-5-orbit...agrange-point/

China’s Chang’e-5 orbiter is heading for a gravitationally stable point in space on an extended mission after delivering fresh lunar samples to Earth.

The spacecraft is now heading to a Sun-Earth Lagrange point to carry out observations of the local environment, the Sun, and perform operational tests.

The Chang’e-5 orbiter left lunar orbit late Dec. 12 Eastern along with a return capsule containing lunar samples. The two spacecraft separated around 5,000 kilometers from Earth Dec 16., with the return capsule performing a ‘skip’ reentry into the atmosphere. The return capsule landed at 12:59 Eastern Dec. 16 with 1.731 kilograms of lunar materials.

Meanwhile the orbiter had conducted an avoidance burn. It was initially unclear if the avoidance burn referred to avoiding the return capsule or the Earth’s atmosphere.

Amateur radio operators first confirmed the Chang’e-5 orbiter was still in space and heading towards the moon. Official confirmation has now been provided as to the spacecraft’s status.

Hu Hao, a chief designer of the third (sample return) phase of the Chinese lunar exploration program, told China Central Television (Chinese) Dec. 20 that the orbiter is now on an extended mission to a Sun-Earth Lagrange point.

Hu said the extended mission was made possible by the accurate orbital injection by the Long March 5 launch vehicle, the same rocket which failed in July 2017 and delayed Chang’e-5 by three years. The Chang’e-5 orbiter has more than 200 kilograms of propellant remaining for further maneuvers.

While unspecified, it is believed that the Chang’e-5 orbiter will enter orbit around L1, based on the reference to planned solar observations. The orbiter is equipped with optical imagers.

The team will decide on a further destination after tests and observations have been conducted, Hu said.

[selvaarchi]

Rader echograms showed that there were several layers of slates underneath the landing site. Due to that, they only drilled to one meter depth instead of the planned two meters.

https://www.space.com/china-sharing-...5-moon-samples

China's Chang'e 5 moon lander collected the material via a drill and a robotic arm, in the hard vacuum of the lunar surface.

The plan was to drill a 6.6 ft (2 meters) deep hole to collect 1.1 lb (500 grams) of material, with the scoop grabbing 3.3 lbs (1.5 kg). “However while the lander started drilling there, the radar echograms showed that there were several layers of slates underneath the landing site. So we were unable to go further down when we reached about one meter deep, and we could face greater risk and overrun the time if we did not stop immediately,” Hu Hao, chief designer of the third phase of China's lunar exploration program, told CCTV.

This is expected to be the reason for the samples collected being less than the planned 4.4 lbs (2 kilograms).

[Roger E. Moore]

To help trudge through the snow, the Chang'e-5 recovery team wore powered exoskeletons.

https://phys.org/news/2020-12-trudge...team-wore.html

[selvaarchi]

"Scientists review how they study lunar samples"

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/202..._139627477.htm

China's Chang'e-5 probe retrieved about 1,731 grams of samples from the moon. It has been much anticipated just how these would be used for research.

Researchers have set up special storage facilities, constructed laboratories for sample processing and analysis, and developed detailed operating procedures to ensure that lunar samples are not contaminated as far as possible and that the research results are reliable.

The samples will be first analyzed non-destructively, said Xiao Long, a researcher at the China University of Geosciences. He told the Science and Technology Daily that this analysis could indicate the condition of the samples.

A method for non-destructive analysis is to obtain the samples' element composition and content information. Researchers do this by analyzing the wavelength and intensity of the characteristic fluorescence X-rays generated by different sample elements, said Zhao Yuyan with Jilin University.

Researchers also implement microanalysis to use them as sparingly as possible. The allowable amount of the samples under test is usually only about one percent of the constant, with a weight of about 1 to 15 milligrams.

[selvaarchi]

At a meeting, with diplomats and representatives from France, Russia, the European Union, Asia Pacific Space Cooperation Organization and other countries and international organizations, China encourages international joint research in space science based on the lunar samples to support science results sharing.

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/202..._139677513.htm

"We are still in the pre-processing stage of the lunar samples, including sample unsealing, preparation and the establishment of archives," said Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center of CNSA.

About 80 percent of the lunar samples will be used for scientific research, and 20 percent will be preserved for better and more advanced scientific research methods and conditions in the future. This also constitutes protection of heritage of human civilization, Pei added.

China's future lunar and interplanetary exploration missions will be more open, and cooperation among countries will be further encouraged, Pei said.

[cannongray]

Until China, lunar soil was delivered to Earth by only two countries - the USA and the USSR. The last mission to deliver lunar soil was carried out in 1976.

[selvaarchi]

"China invites netizens to vote on name for Mars rover"

Unfortunately they do not provide the link.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20210...d0baa3a71.html

China's space administration has unveiled a list of 10 selections for the name of the country's first Mars rover, inviting internet users from across the globe to vote on the candidates before making a final selection.

Netizens at home and abroad can take part in the poll to help decide the name of the Mars rover from Jan 20 to Feb 28. The administration will pick the three most popular names based on public voting and the opinions of an evaluation committee.

According to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration, the 10 selected names have come out after a global naming campaign that kicked off in late July 2020.

In October, a panel of 32 experts selected 10 semifinalists after evaluating more than 39,000 submissions from 38 countries and regions. The participants ranged from 7 to 95 years old.

[selvaarchi]

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter photographs Chang'e-5.

https://www.leonarddavid.com/chinas-...lunar-orbiter/

NASA’s powerful LROC imaging system on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has produced a new photo of China’s Chang’e-5 descent stage sitting on the basaltic plains of Oceanus Procellarum (“Ocean of Storms”) on the Moon.

China’s Chang’e-5 lunar mission was a successful multi-phase affair involving an orbiter, a lander, an ascender, and a returner spacecraft to haul back to Earth lunar samples, doing so on December 16th.