6 CHINA DAILY | HONG KONG EDITION Wednesday, November 25, 2020 | 7 CHINA Endeavor: CHANG’E 5 EMBARKS ON JOURNEY TO NEW FRONTIER Multiple objectives ment and preparation for China’s to be fulfilled Experts expect major contributions from mission astronauts to travel to and land on Reasons for predawn Expedition tasked the moon,” Durst said. From page 1 He said the opportunities and By ZHAO LEI in Wenchang, Hainan He said following China’s extreme­ Bonnie Thurber from the Spac­ long­term lunar research goals. advancements resulting from Chi­ If the Chang’e 5 mission ends suc­ ly successful Chang’e 4 mission to the Edge Academy, an educational pro­ Gould said as Chang’e 5 will be col­ na’s lunar exploration program have launch time explained cessfully, it will be China’s first space with number of Space experts and educators from moon’s far side, lunar samples col­ gram under the United States’ lecting surface samples younger than been enormous for science, technolo­ activity to retrieve extraterrestrial around the world are closely follow­ lected by Chang’e 5 will make “fur­ National Space Society, said: “I am those brought back last century by gy, education and business. Interna­ By ZHAO LEI in Wenchang, Hainan must fit with several requirements substances and will also make China ing the Chang’e 5 mission and are ther important contributions” to very excited about Chang’e 5. I hope the Apollo missions, he expects to see tional collaboration on the basis of — from the trajectories of the rock­ the third nation in the world to bring optimistic it can achieve its targets. global knowledge of the composition everything goes as planned. It is very advances in knowledge of the com­ equality and mutual benefit will also Many people have asked why et, the orbiter as well as the re­en­ lunar samples back after the United firsts for China Professor Martin Sweeting, a fel­ of previously unexplored near­side important to me that all space scien­ position of lunar materials. be fostered, as well as peaceful and the China National Space Admin­ try capsule.” States and the then Soviet Union. low of the Royal Society of the United regions. tists share and build on information, “Even more exciting is the longer­ productive uses of the moon for the istration chose to launch the The second factor taken into Moreover, the mission’s success Kingdom and a distinguished profes­ “This mission is particularly rele­ because the more we know about the term goal to establish an internation­ entire humanity. Chang’e 5 in the early morning, account was the sun. will make Chang’e 5 the world’s first By ZHAO LEI in Wenchang, Hainan Xichang Satellite Launch Center in sor of space engineering at the Uni­ vant considering the renewed inter­ moon and space, the sooner we will al lunar research station,” he said, “I hope the revolutionary Chang’e which forced those wanting to wit­ “Launching the rocket before lunar sample­return spacecraft since [email protected] Sichuan province. versity of Surrey, said the est in the moon following the be able to set up outposts and move adding he wished the Chang’e 5 team 5 mission will carry and advance a ness the spectacular event to get sunrise helped to avoid the impact August 1976 when the Soviet Union’s Yu Dengyun, deputy chief design­ international science community has discovery of water trapped in cold forward. I am very hopeful that Chi­ the best of luck. most important accomplishment of up well before sunrise. of solar radiation on the rocket, unmanned Luna 24 brought 170.1 The Chang’e 5 lunar mission will er of China’s lunar exploration pro­ been looking forward to the mission locations of the surface and intensive na will share the information it col­ He also expressed hope for more the US Apollo moon landings, as The robotic lunar probe was especially a possible burst of solar grams of lunar samples back to Earth. need to overcome a succession of gram, said: “First of all, Chang’e 5’s and the first collection of lunar sam­ international preparations for lects with the rest of the world’s space cooperation between the US and Chi­ inscribed on the plaque Neil Arm­ sent from the Wenchang Space wind,” he said. According to the space administra­ challenges and difficulties before it most important task will be collect­ ples since 1976. humans to return to the moon,” science programs so we can all grow na in space exploration. strong and Buzz Aldrin placed on the Launch Center in the island prov­ The third reason behind the ear­ tion, the Chang’e 5 mission is intend­ can be declared a complete success, ing lunar samples. The environment Sweeting said. “China’s contribution from this mission.” Steve Durst, founding director of moon — ‘We came in peace for all ince of Hainan, South China, at ly morning launch was the ed to fulfill several objectives. project insiders said. on the lunar surface, such as the to this international effort will be Alan Gould, emeritus director of the International Lunar Observatory mankind’.” 4:30 am. amount of cloud cover. At night, In terms of space engineering, it Mission spokesman Pei Zhaoyu gravity there, is very different from very important, much welcomed and the Lawrence Hall of Science Plane­ Association, a nonprofit organization Oded Ben­Horin, an associate pro­ The launch time was decided by the cover is thinner, creating favor­ will demonstrate and verify technical said Chang’e 5 will be the first Chi­ that on Earth. So we must ensure greatly valued.” tarium at the University of California, in Hawaii, described the Chang’e 5 fessor at the Western Norway Univer­ mission planners and rocket design­ able conditions for signals com­ plans and apparatus for autonomous nese spacecraft to carry out sample that our technologies are functional Berkeley, said the mission is expected mission as “historic, revolutionary sity of Applied Sciences in Bergen, ers based on several considerations, munications between ground lunar sampling and packing, moon­ collection and launch operations on and reliable during the collection to make significant contributions to and pioneering”. Norway, said besides scientific and said Qian Hang from the China control and the Chang’e 5. based launching as well as lunar an extraterrestrial body, and these and packing processes. “The International Lunar Observ­ technological achievements, Chang’e Academy of Launch Vehicle Tech­ The last consideration was mon­ orbital docking. maneuvers will be extremely “The next challenge will be lifting Siziwang Banner, atory Association has always consid­ 5 will also act as an inspiration for nology, which built the Long March itoring and tracking Chang’e 5 In the scientific field, it will investi­ demanding and sophisticated in the sample­carrying ascender from Inner Mongolia ered Chang’e 5 as the decisive creative education. He hopes educa­ 5 carrier rocket used to lift the probe. from the ground, Qian said. If the gate the landing site’s geological and terms of technology and engineer­ the moon. All of our launches so far gateway mission to enable commit­ tors around the world will study the “The first element we consid­ mission started in the daytime, the topographical features, and enable ing complexity. were made from Earth, but the com­ findings of the mission and share Chang’e 5, China’s heaviest and ered when choosing the launch strong sunlight could “dazzle” the scientists to analyze the structure and Wenchang, The re-entry module is After the samples are collected ing launch will take place on lunar Hainan dropped back to earth. them with students. largest lunar probe. time was the preferred trajectories telescopes. Instead, the night sky physical traits of lunar samples so and packed into the ascender, it will soil and use the Chang’e 5’s lander as PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY and the relative position between allowed ground­based monitors to they can deepen their research of the need to be lifted into lunar orbit to the launchpad. Consequently, the Earth and the moon,” said Qian, better track and observe the trajec­ moon’s origin and evolution. rendezvous and dock with the com­ challenge will be whether our equip­ from the academy’s general design tory of the lunar probe after it sep­ The administration added that the bined orbiter and re­entry capsule ment can handle the complicated department. “The selected time arated from the rocket, he said. mission will also help to foster the in an exceptionally accurate, deli­ operation as it was designed to do.” country’s knowledge, technology cate manner. Otherwise, it will be Previous rendezvous and docking and talent pool for future manned damaged and fail to deliver the sam­ by Chinese spacecraft occurred in missions to the moon and other Chang’e 5 probe heads ples, he added. low­Earth orbit — hundreds of kilo­ to the moon. deep­space expeditions. Even at the very beginning of the meters above the planet — but this The orbiter and re-entry module Pei Zhaoyu, a spokesman for the mission, Chang’e 5 had to go time it will take place in lunar orbit remain in orbit while the lander mission, said if the mission is success­ through some new operations, said nearly 380,000 km away, Yu said. and ascender descend toward ful, it will be a milestone in the nation’s Pei, who is deputy director of the The last challenge, he said, will the moon’s surface. lunar exploration endeavors and will China National Space Administra­ emerge during the re­entry process show the world China’s scientific, tech­ tion’s Lunar Exploration and Space as the re­entry capsule will descend The mission will also be China’s nological and engineering capabilities. Program Center. He explained that through Earth’s atmosphere at a first return flight at a speed Furthermore, Chang’e 5 will it was the first Chinese lunar mis­ speed of 11.2 kilometers per second, close to second cosmic velocity, strengthen the nation’s status and sion to use the Long March 5 heavy­ much faster than almost all previ­ 11.2 kilometers per second. influence in the international space lift carrier rocket and the Wenchang ous Chinese spacecraft. community, pave the way for the coun­ Space Launch Center in Hainan “The ultrafast speed will verify the try’s future lunar expeditions and province. All the previous Chang’e aerodynamic design, heat­resistant 1 boost its space science, and will also programs were carried on Long materials and flight control system Mons Ruemker is a large offer more opportunities to lunar March 3 rockets launched from the on the re­entry module,” Yu said. volcanic cluster in Oceanus researchers around the world, Pei said. Procellarum on the moon, Scientists around the world are and was chosen as a welcome to participate in the research candidate-landing region for the Chang'e 5 mission. of the lunar samples brought back by How it took decades for the mission. China will publish a set of The lander and ascender will guidelines about the use and distribu­ make a soft landing and then get tion of the samples after the mission, space program to take off to work on tasks such as drilling said Pei, who is deputy director of the THE CHANG'E 5 MISSION to collect underground rocks administration’s Lunar Exploration and using a mechanical arm and Space Program Center. China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft will return the first The orbiter and the By ZHAO LEI in Wenchang, Hainan and generated images for the re-entry module fly to gather surface soil. His remarks were echoed by Xing nation’s first map of the entire lunar moon samples to Earth since the Soviet Union’s Qiang, founder of Micro­Rocket 2 Luna 24 mission in 1976. Chang’e 5 will help back to earth. After the surface operations Back in 1970, the year China surface. In March 2009, the probe scientists understand what was happening late in Union, a nonprofit space research are done, the ascender’s rocket launched its first satellite, some sci­ made a controlled crash on the lunar the moon’s history, as well as how Earth and the organization in Beijing. will elevate it into lunar orbit to entists suggested that the govern­ surface. solar system evolved. Xing said if everything goes well in ment should start a lunar Chang’e 2, which made technical dock with the re-entry module the mission, about 2 kg of lunar rocks and transfer lunar samples exploration program. improvements on Chang’e 1, was to the module. and soil will be sent back and that will However, their suggestion was launched on Oct 1, 2010, from the mean a lot to Chinese scientists, not turned down by then Premier Zhou Xichang center to carry out high­def­ ASCENDER only scientifically but also emotionally. Enlai due to technological and inition imaging of the moon and “Currently, China has only 1 gram financial difficulties. scout possible landing sites for the The 8.2-metric ton LANDER of lunar sample — a tiny piece of rock In 1997, several top Chinese scien­ next mission. It completed its tasks Chang’e 5 has — that was collected on one of the US tists launched an initiative calling for and left lunar orbit. four components: RE-ENTRY MODULE Apollo missions. The stone was later the central government to pay great­ Chang’e 3, a milestone in China’s divided into two equal pieces. One er attention to lunar exploration. Aft­ space exploration history, was 3 ORBITER piece was used for scientific study er that, the country’s science launched on Dec 2, 2013, from the sat­ and the other was sent to the Beijing community kept urging space ellite center in Sichuan. Planetarium for public display,” he authorities to undertake lunar pro­ It was the first Chinese spacecraft said. “For a long time we had been grams. In November 2000, the gov­ to land on the moon, and the first ves­ unable to collect more lunar samples ernment announced in a white paper sel to achieve that since Luna 24, a by ourselves, but now Chang’e 5 will that preparatory research on lunar probe of the former Soviet Union, 2kg bring as much as 2 kg of stones and exploration had been included in its performed the same feat in August dirt back to us. You can imagine what space planning program. 1976. Chang’e 3 carried the first Chi­ The fifth Long of soil and rocks will be collected as this will mean to our scientists.” March 5 rocket, samples. The samples should be the In February 2003, the government nese lunar rover, Yutu, which collect­ used to launch youngest ever returned to Earth: just 1.2 The samples to be retrieved by the said it was ready to open a lunar pro­ ed data for nearly 1,000 days that was China's Chang'e 5 billion years old, when multicellular life may Chinese vehicle will bring abundant gram and appointed three scientists sent back to Earth via a relay satellite lunar probe have already evolved on our planet. GRAPHICS BY MUKESH MOHANAN / CHINA DAILY benefits and opportunities to Chinese to head the project team. in lunar orbit. scientists and their foreign counter­ In January 2004, the first phase of On Dec 8, 2018, China launched 4 parts, he said, adding that the mission the Chang’e program was officially Chang’e 4 to explore the far side of also will earn China a place in the elite approved, marking the formal open­ the moon, which faces away from club of space powers able to carry out ing of China’s lunar exploration mis­ Earth. After 26 days, the spacecraft deep­space sample return operations. sion. made a soft landing in the Von Kar­ After nearly four years of prepara­ man crater in the South Pole–Aitken Enduring efforts tions, the first lunar probe, Chang’e 1, Basin, beginning humanity’s first Yutu 2 rover still operating on far side of moon Future probes already mapped out by administration The design work on Chang’e 5 was launched on Oct 24, 2007, from close observation of the “dark side of began in January 2011 and was con­ the Xichang Satellite Launch Center the moon”. cluded in December 2012, and then in Sichuan province. The Chang’e 4 mission has ena­ By ZHAO LEI in Wenchang, Hainan to provide power to the probe. els and a radar dish and weighs 140 By ZHAO LEI in Wenchang, Hainan the Chang’e 5 mission, said Liu Ji­ The rover, which will become the polar regions can support perma­ designers and engineers started It was tasked with testing and veri­ bled scientists to deepen their knowl­ During the most recent lunar day, kilograms. zhong, head of the administration’s nation’s third vehicle on the moon, nent scientific outposts, Pang added. building the probe’s prototype. fying China’s lunar probe technolo­ edge of the moon and its early China’s Yutu 2 rover has been oper­ which started on Nov 9, Yutu 2 con­ The record for the longest­working While the lunar quest of lunar program. will carry a lunar penetrating China’s space authorities have a Construction of Chang’e 5 began in gies, obtaining images of the moon history, as well as that of the solar sys­ ating on the lunar surface for 692 tinued moving to the northwest of rover on the moon is held by Yutu, Chang’e 5 has just begun, engi­ Like its predecessor, Chang’e 6 radar, a lunar surface magnetome­ long­term plan to land astronauts December 2015 at the China Acade­ and performing scientific surveys. tem. Its Yutu 2 rover is the first to 1. Chang’e 1 is ready to be Earth days, cementing its status as Chang’e 4’s landing site in the South China’s first lunar rover, which neers have already mapped out will consist of four components — ter and a Raman spectrometer. on the moon and set up at least one my of Space Technology. It obtained a lot of scientific data explore the far side of the moon. launched by the Long the second­longest­working rover on Pole­Aitken Basin, one of the largest worked on the moon for 972 days, far the schedules for China’s future orbiter, lander, ascender and re­en­ Pang Zhihao, a former research­ scientific station there. They hope to The mission was originally sched­ March 3A carrier rocket the moon, the China National Space and deepest known basins in the outliving its designed life span of moon missions. try module. er at the China Academy of Space use the manned missions to carry uled to be completed by the end of on Oct 24, 2007, from the Administration said. solar system. three months. According to mission planners at In addition to its own mission Technology and a space science out scientific surveys and technolog­ 2017, but the plan had to be post­ Xichang Satellite Launch The second Chinese lunar rover, The four scientific apparatus It was deployed by the lander of the the China National Space Adminis­ payloads, the administration will author, said Chang’e 6 and 7 would ical research, explore ways to devel­ poned due to technical problems Center in Sichuan prov- Yutu 2 is part of the ongoing Chang’e mounted on the vehicle — a pano­ Chang’e 3 probe, the first Chinese tration, Chang’e 6 is scheduled to provide 20 kilograms of storage focus on the moon’s south pole op lunar resources and strengthen with the Long March 5 rocket, which ince. 4 mission, humanity’s first endeavor ramic camera, a lunar penetrating spacecraft to touch down on the be launched around 2023. Its mis­ onboard Chang’e 6 to hold scientif­ because previous missions have the nation’s space capabilities. had a launch failure in July that year. WEI QING / FOR CHINA DAILY to land on and closely observe the far radar, a visible and near­infrared moon, in December 2013. Several sci­ sion is to land at the moon’s south ic apparatus from domestic and found traces of “water ice” at the Zhou Yanfei, deputy chief design­ Since then, engineers had continu­ 2. Chang’e 2, attached to side of the moon. The rover has trav­ imaging spectrometer and the Swed­ entific devices on the lander are still The Yutu 2 rover on the pole and bring back rock and soil foreign institutes as well as Chinese lunar poles. er of China’s manned space pro­ ously improved the mission’s overall the Long March 3C carri- eled nearly 590 meters since it was ish­developed Advanced Small Ana­ producing data after more than 2,500 surface of the moon. samples. Chang’e 7 is set to conduct private enterprises. The space­ “The next missions can further gram, said in September that the reliability and spared no efforts to er rocket, is launched on deployed on Jan 3 last year. lyzer for Neutrals — were activated to days on the near side of the moon, the PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY a thorough investigation of the craft’s orbiter will carry 10 kg of investigate the existence of water, country has the capacity to inde­ ensure the program can eventually Oct 1, 2010, from the The administration said Chang’e conduct scientific investigations. space administration said. lunar south pole in 2024. Chang’e 8 such devices, and the other 10 kg which can be used to support pendently land astronauts on the succeed, said Ye Peijian, a leading sci­ Xichang center. 4’s lander and the rover have finished Their findings during the working Yutu broke the previous record for will be tasked with testing and veri­ will be mounted on the lander, Liu manned scientific expeditions to moon because of its technologies, entist in deep­space exploration at the WEI QING / FOR CHINA DAILY their 24th lunar­day working session session will be used to help scientists the longest operational lunar rover — the lunar surface for 11 lunar days fying cutting­edge technologies said. those regions in the future,” he said. well­trained, innovative profes­ China Academy of Space Technology. 3. Chang’e 3 waits to be and are now in a dormant state for reveal the origins of substances 321 Earth days — which was held for and traversed a total distance of 10.5 that may be applied in future moon By comparison, Chang’e 7 will “The south pole is also character­ sionals and efficient research and Before Chang’e 5, 20 successful soft launched from the the lunar night. beneath the South Pole­Aitken Basin, more than 43 years by the former kilometers before ceasing operation expeditions, including a possible consist of an orbiter, a relay satel­ ized by its long period of sunlight management systems. landings have been made on the Xichang center on Dec 1, A lunar day equals 14 days on the space administration said. Soviet Union’s Lunokhod 1. It was on October 4, 1971. lunar outpost. lite, a lander, a rover and a flyby coverage that can sustain a probe’s He said planners, designers and moon by the US, the Soviet Union and Space workers celebrate the successful launch of Chang’e 5 from the 2013. SU DONG / FOR CHINA DAILY Earth, as does a lunar night. During Designed and built by China Aero­ carried by the Luna 17 spacecraft and In ancient Chinese mythology, The exact launch date and land­ craft, according to a mission plan extended operations.” engineers are doing feasibility China. The most recent, and still oper­ Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on Tuesday. 4. Chang’e 4’s lander on the lunar night, the temperature falls space Science and Technology Corp, landed on the moon on Nov 17, 1970. Yutu is the white pet rabbit of the ing site of the Chang’e 6 mission published on the website of China’s Such missions can also help scien­ studies and discussing all aspects ational, are China’s Chang’e 3 and JIN LIWANG / XINHUA the moon. XINHUA below ­180 C, and there is no sunlight Yutu 2 has six wheels, two solar pan­ The robotic vehicle operated on lunar goddess Chang’e. will be determined by the results of lunar exploration program. tists determine whether the moon’s of the manned lunar program. Chang’e 4 missions.