BEIJING: China plans to launch a new lunar mission in the next few days to test technology that is likely to be used in Chang’e-5, a future lunar probe with the ability to return to Earth.
The experimental spacecraft is expected to reach a location near the moon and return to Earth, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (ASTIND) said.
The test model is currently ready and scheduled to be launched between Friday and Sunday from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China, with the whole mission taking about eight days.
“The meteorological condition will meet the requirements for the launch,” state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted Tao Zhongshan, chief engineer of the centre, as saying.
It is the first time China has conducted a test involving a half-orbit around the moon at a height of 3,80,000 km before having the craft return to Earth.
The return mission will involve the spacecraft entering, exiting, and re-entering Earth’s atmosphere and landing, ASTIND said in a statement.
During this process, the spacecraft’s speed will be slowed down so it can land safely at a determined location, a key capability needed for Chang’e-5, which is expected to return from the moon at a velocity of 11.2 kms per second.
China’s advanced Long March-3C carrier rocket will make its debut during the test.
The Chang’e-5 probe, expected to launch in 2017, will be tasked with landing on the moon, collecting samples and returning to Earth.
“Apart from the technology of self-returning to Earth, the probe will make a breakthrough in sample collecting, moon surface takeoff, rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit,” said Hu Hao, chief designer of the third phase of China’s lunar probe project.
China carried out Chang’e-1 and Chang’e-2 missions in 2007 and 2010, respectively.
In December last year, Chang’e-3 lunar probe succeeded in soft landing on the moon, China’s first moon rover on board.
The Chang’e-3 mission marked completion of the second phase of China’s lunar programme, which includes orbiting, landing and returning to Earth.
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