Expedition Tasked with Number of Firsts for China
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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- long-term 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 re-en- lunar samples back after the United firsts for China Professor Martin Sweeting, a fel- of previously unexplored near-side 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 sample-return 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 Ben-Horin, 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 sample-carrying 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 ground-based 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 re-entry 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. low-Earth orbit — hundreds of kilo- to the moon. deep-space 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 re-entry process show the world China’s scientific, tech- tion’s Lunar Exploration and Space as the re-entry capsule will descend The mission will also be China’s nological and engineering capabilities.