By Albee Zhang and Ryan Woo
BEIJING (Reuters) – China unveiled a project on Friday to collect samples from the “far side” of the moon, a first in the history of exploration, marking a new phase in China’s 20-year-old Chang’e lunar program. It is named after the mythical goddess of the moon.
CHANGE-1
RELEASED: October 24, 2007
LANDING SITE: Impact point north of Mare Fecunditatis (“Sea of Fertility”) on the near side of the Moon
MISSION: As part of the first phase of China’s lunar exploration program, the unmanned Chang’e-1 orbited the Moon and took 3D photographs of its landforms and geological structures in preparation for future landings. The spacecraft deliberately crashed into the Moon on March 1, 2009, after the mission.
DURATION: The project was planned for 12 months, but lasted 16 months.
CHANGE-2
RELEASED: October 1, 2010
LANDING LOCATION: None
MISSION: The uncrewed Chang’e 2 orbited the Moon and tested a 100-kilometer-high lunar orbit to prepare for a comfortable landing of Chang’e-3. He then extended his project with a flyby of the near-Earth asteroid 4179 Toutatis.
DURATION: The project lasted 8 months and ended on June 9, 2011. But Chang’e-2 continued at 4,179 Toutatis, capturing photographs of the asteroid in December 2012. It lost its connection to Earth in mid-2014, after traveling 62. 1 million miles (100 km). It is expected to return to Earth’s vicinity around 2027.
CHANGE-3
RELEASED: December 2, 2013
LANDING SITE: Mare Imbrium (“Sea of Rains”) on the near side of the Moon
MISSION: Marking the second phase of China’s lunar program, Chang’e-3 achieved a comfortable landing on the Moon, the first across a country since 1976. The project tested China’s ability to land there safely and precise. It also delivered China’s first satellite. rover Yutu (“Jade Rabbit”) to the lunar surface, where it traveled 118. 9 meters (390 ft). Yutu streamed videos and excavated and analyzed soil samples. It was also supplied with an autonomous navigation formula essential to avoid collisions.
DURATION: Operations of the Chang’e-3 lander, the module that descended to the lunar surface, were planned to last one year. The designed shelf life for Yutu is 3 months. The desktop lander is still operational today. Yutu operated for two years and seven months until July 31, 2016.
CHANGE-4
RELEASED: December 8, 2018
LANDING SITE: Von Kármán Crater at the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the Moon’s face
MISSION: Chang’e-4 made the first comfortable landing on the far side of the Moon with the Yutu-2 rover. Yutu-2 moved on the surface for more than 1,455 meters. The project tested China’s ability to land safely and as it should be on the far side of the Moon, as well as its communications with ground operations on Earth.
DURATION: The lander and rover are still operational today, and communication with Earth is facilitated via Queqiao-1 (“Magpie Bridge”), a relay satellite in halo orbit about 65,000 kilometers from the Moon’s appearance.
CHANG’E-5
RELEASE: November 24, 2020
LANDING LOCATION: Mons Rümker in Oceanus Procellarum (“Ocean of Storms”) in the aspect of the Moon
MISSION: As part of the third phase of China’s lunar program, Chang’e-5 carried out the first project to return to the China sample from the near side of the Moon. It recovered 1,731 grams (61 ounces) of lunar soil samples. e-5 also demonstrated that a Chinese spacecraft can safely land and take off from the moon and return to Earth.
DURATION: The project lasted 23 days. The samples were returned to Earth on December 17, 2020. The Chang’e-5 orbiter is operational.
CHANG’E-6
RELEASE: May 3, 2024
LANDING SITE: Apollo Crater at the South Pole-Aitken Basin in the Moon’s Aspect
MISSION: As a component of the fourth phase of the program, Chang’e 6 will sample an Earth-facing aspect of the Moon. Chang’e-6 will land in the South Pole’s Aitken Basin, a domain with the largest known to have an effect on craters in the solar system. Chang’e-6 will further test China’s exact landing capability. Communication with Earth will basically be carried out through the second relay satellite, Queqiao-2, in orbit around the Moon.
DURATION: last 53 days.
CHANG’E-7
EXPECTED RELEASE: 2026
PLANNED LANDING SITE: Near the southeast ridge of Shackleton Crater, at the lunar south pole, in the southeast of Shackleton Crater.
MISSION: Chang’e-7 will explore resources, ice.
DURATION: The orbiter, lander and Chang’e-7 rover will have a lifespan of 8 years. A mini “flying” probe, capable of “jumping” into craters to look for water, will have a lifespan of six months.
CHANG’E-8
EXPECTED RELEASE: 2028
PLANNED LANDING SITE: The lunar south pole in the aspect of the Moon
MISSION: Chang’e-8 will land at the lunar South Pole and check resource progression in situ. It will also conduct an in-situ resource 3D printing experiment to build a structure, testing a way of generating for building a lunar base. The Chang’e-8 will come with a lander, a rover and a robot.
DURATION: Unknown
MISSION WITH UNNAMED CREW
EXPECTED RELEASE: 2030
LANDING SITE: Unknown
MISSION: China is making plans for its first manned lunar mission, landing two astronauts on the moon by 2030, in a spacecraft called Mengzhou (“Ship of Dreams”) and a lander called Lanyue (“Hugging the Moon”).
DURATION: Unknown
(Reporting via Albee Zhang and Ryan Woo;Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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