China sent a lander to the moon. Chang’e 5 was launched on Monday evening with a Long March 5. The spacecraft is supposed to pick up rocks from the moon and bring them back to Earth.
The long Mars rocket rose at 21: 30 Dutch time from the Wenchang launch base in southern China. It was one of the few times a Chinese launch was to be watched live. Normally, China does not officially announce launches until it has been successful. Chang’e 5 goes to the moon to pick up moon rocks and bring them to Earth. So far, only two countries have managed to bring moon samples to Earth. America did that during the Apollo missions, and Russia with the robotic Luna landings.
The spacecraft is scheduled to orbit the moon in three days. An attempt to land is likely to take place sometime in the next few days, but the Chinese space agency does not comment on that. The lander is expected to collect soil samples for about two days. It would then be about two kilograms of Moonstone. The lander then rises again and reconnects with the rest of the spacecraft that continues to fly in a moon orbit all the time. Then the capsule returns to Earth. The European Space Agency (ESA) plays a role in this respect.; that helps China track the craft. China practiced a re-entry maneuver from the moon in 2014.
Chang’e 5 lands near Mount Mons Rümker, on the western side of the moon. There are relatively young moon rocks. For example, they are younger than the moon stones collected during the American Apollo missions. With the stones, scientists hope to learn more about the age of the moon, and the formation of volcanic areas. From this they can learn more about the history of other celestial bodies in the solar system.
China has become more and more interested in a lunar program in recent years. In 2012, as a third country in the world, the country put a vehicle on the moon. The lander Chang’e and rover Yutu made a soft landing and collected information about the lunar surface for months. At the beginning of 2019, China was able to land a spacecraft on the back of the moon. China says that all these missions are preparing for a mission with astronauts, which must take place sometime in the future.
