China Tuesday launched a spacecraft to collect and return samples from the moon, the country's first attempt to retrieve samples from an extraterrestrial body.
The Long March-5 rocket, carrying the Chang'e-5 spacecraft, blasted off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on the coast of southern island province of Hainan at 4:30 a.m. (Beijing Time).
Pei Zhaoyu, spokesman for the Chang'e 5 mission, said if the mission becomes successful, it will be a milestone in the nation's lunar exploration endeavor and will show the world China's scientific, technological and engineering capabilities.
Furthermore, Chang'e 5 will strengthen the nation's status and influence in the international space community, pave the way for the country's future lunar expeditions and boost its space science, and will offer more opportunities to lunar researchers around the world, he said.
Pei said if the Chang'e-5 mission succeeds, China's current lunar exploration project would come to a successful conclusion.
Chang'e 5, comprising an orbiter, a returner, a lander, and an ascender, with a total takeoff mass of 8.2 tonnes, is expected to accomplish unmanned rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit.
飞天后要进行一系列复杂操作,环环相扣,不容失误。
这是长征五号遥五运载火箭发射升空。新华社记者 张丽芸 摄
嫦娥五号进入月球轨道后,着陆器和上升器组合体将与轨道器和返回器组合体分离。
After it enters the lunar orbit, the lander-ascender combination will separate from the orbiter-returner combination.
While the orbiter-returner orbits about 200 km above the lunar surface, the lander-ascender will touch down on the northwest region of Oceanus Procellarum, also known as the Ocean of Storms, on the near side of the moon in early December.
嫦娥五号将在月球收集2公斤样本,并进行密封封装。
About 2 kg of samples are expected to be collected and sealed in a container in the spacecraft.
Then the ascender will take off with the sample, and dock with the orbiter-returner in orbit. After the samples are transferred to the returner, the ascender will separate from the orbiter-returner.
The combination of orbiter and returner will then depart the lunar orbit and return to Earth's orbit, where the pair will break up and the returner will conduct a host of complicated maneuvers to return to a preset landing site in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region in mid-December.
国家航天局表示,整个任务预计持续约23天。
The entire mission is scheduled to last about 23 days, according to the China National Space Administration.
图源:CGTN
有望实现中国航天史上的五个 “首次”
这次嫦娥五号任务的意义,是里程碑式的。
不同于中国探月工程嫦娥家族的其他探测器一去不复返,嫦娥五号将有望实现中国航天史上的多个“首次”。
据新华社报道,嫦娥五号发射成功将有望实现中国航天史上的五个 “首次”↓
图源:新华视点
“嫦五奔月”刷屏外媒
作为人类探索月球的又一次伟大尝试,嫦娥五号的成功发射,也抢占了许多外媒头条。
《纽约时报》:“中国开启月球任务,将带回月壤”
“上一次月球样品被带回地球,还是40多年前,这次嫦娥五号带回的丰富样本将具有巨大科研价值”
《国家地理》:“中国的最新月球任务将带回1976年以来第一抔月壤”
“嫦娥五号航天器踏上征途,将为地球采回最新鲜的月壤,帮助科学家解开月球历史之谜”
《卫报》报道称:若此次任务成功,中国将成为继美国和前苏联后第三个采回月球样本的国家。
If successful, the mission would make China only the third country to have retrieved lunar samples, joining the United States and the former Soviet Union.
In this century, so far only China has successfully put robotic spacecraft on the surface of the moon: Chang’e 3 in December 2013, and Chang’e 4, which in January 2019 became the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the moon. Chang’e 4’s rover, called Yutu 2, is still operating, studying lunar geology nearly two years later.