The news is abuzz with China’s recent launch of an unmanned spacecraft. This mission represents the first attempt in four decades by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon. The Chang’e-5 mission, named after the ancient Chinese goddess of the moon, will strive to collect lunar material to further our understanding of the moon’s origins and formation.
Launch Details
The Chang’e-5 spacecraft was launched on board the Long March-5 Y5 rocket from Wenchang Space Launch Center in China.
Mission Objectives
The primary task of the Chang’e-5 mission is to drill 2 meters beneath the moon’s surface and collect approximately 2 kilograms of rocks and other debris. These samples will subsequently be brought back to Earth to aid scientists in studying the moon’s origins, its volcanic activity (both on the surface and interior), and the timeline of dissipation for its magnetic field, which plays a crucial role in safeguarding any form of life from solar radiation.
Functioning
Upon reaching the moon’s orbit, the spacecraft is designed to deploy a pair of vehicles — a lander and an ascender — to the moon’s surface. The lander will drill into the ground and transfer the collected soil and rock samples to the ascender. The ascender will then lift off and dock with an orbiting module. The objective is to gather 2 kg of samples from an untouched area in a vast lava plain known as Oceanus Procellarum, or “Ocean of Storms”. The area where the spacecraft is supposed to land is estimated to be 1-2 billion years old.
Return to Earth
If everything goes according to plan, the collected samples will be transferred to a return capsule that will safely transport them back to Earth. The landing site is anticipated to be in China’s Inner Mongolia region. The entire mission is projected to last approximately 23 days.
Significance
The successful completion of this mission would place China as the third country that has retrieved lunar samples, alongside the United States and the Soviet Union. The Apollo programme of the United States yielded 382 kg of rocks and soil from the moon over six flights between 1969 and 1972. The Soviet Union successfully implemented three robotic sample return missions in the 1970s, the last one being Luna 24 which retrieved samples in 1976 from a lunar basin called “Sea of Crises”.
New Information through Diverse Exploration
The area explored by the Apollo-Luna missions, although significant for our understanding, covers less than half of the lunar surface. Subsequent data from orbital remote sensing missions have revealed a wider array of rock types, mineralogies, and ages than those represented in the Apollo-Luna sample collections.
China’s Previous Moon Missions
China conducted its first lunar landing in 2013. In January 2019, the Chang’e-4 probe successfully touched down on the far side of the moon, marking the first time any nation’s space probe had done so. The Chang’e series of lunar probes were launched by the China National Space Administration.
China’s Future Space Plans
China aims to have a permanent manned space station operational by 2022. Furthermore, China plans to establish a robotic base station for unmanned exploration in the south polar region of the moon within the next decade. This base station will be developed through the Chang’e-6, 7, and 8 missions throughout the 2020s.
Other Important Moon Missions
In addition to China’s missions, the moon has also been targeted by other nations. Two noteworthy ventures are the Chandrayaan 3 by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Artemis Mission by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
