Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, China National Space Administration, Beijing, China

[Administrator]

China National Space Administration

Chinese Lunar Exploration Program on Wikipedia

Chang'e 5 on Wikipedia

Yutu (Jade Rabbit)

Playlist "Chang’e-5 lunar mission"

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-5 launch

Nov 23, 2020

The Long March-5 Y5 launch vehicle launched the Chang’e-5 lunar probe from the Wenchang Space Launch Center, Hainan Province, China, on 23 November 2020, at 20:30 UTC (24 November, 04:30 local time). Chang’e-5 (嫦娥五号) is China’s first mission to attempt to collect samples from the Moon and bring them back to Earth. Currently, Long March-5 Y5 is scheduled to launch Chang’e-5 “in late November 2020”.

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-5 to sample Mons Rümker, Oceanus Procellarum

Nov 25, 2020

The Chang’e-5 lunar mission will attempt to land near Mons Rümker, a volcanic complex in the northern region of Oceanus Procellarum. The spacecraft will try to collect about 2 kilograms of lunar soil and return the samples to Earth. According to Lin Yangting (professor, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences), a joint team will be formed with European researchers to study the samples, part of the cooperation with the European Space Agency.

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-5 ready for landing

Nov 29, 2020

The Chang’e-5 lunar mission has successfully performed a second braking maneuver on 29 November 2020, at 12:23 UTC (20:23 China Standard Time) and entered into a near-circular orbit around the Moon. On 29 November 2020, at 20:40 UTC (30 November, 04:40 China Standard Time), the Chang’e-5 lander-ascender separated from the orbiter-sample return vehicle. Chang’e-5 will attempt to make a soft landing on the near side of the Moon, near Mons Rümker, a volcanic complex in the northern region of Oceanus Procellarum.
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)
Chang’e-5 lander separates from orbiter

 

[Administrator]

Article "China's Chang'e-5 Moon mission probe touches down"

by Jonathan Amos
December 1, 2020

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-5 landing on the Moon

Dec 1, 2020

China’s Chang’e-5 lunar mission has successfully landed on the near side of the Moon, near Mons Rümker, a volcanic complex in the northern region of Oceanus Procellarum, on 1 December 2020, at 15:11 UTC (23:11 China Standard Time). The Chang’e-5 lander will attempt to collect about 2kg of soil samples and return them to Earth.
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)/China National Space Administration (CNSA)
Music: Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven courtesy of YouTube Audio Library
Chang’e-5 landing

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-5 collecting lunar samples

Dec 1, 2020

Chang’e-5 landed on the near side of the Moon, near 51.8 degrees west longitude and 43.1 degrees north latitude, on 1 December 2020, at 15:11 UTC. The lander started drilling for samples, collecting samples from the surface and storing them in the ascent module. According to CNSA, Chang’e-5 finished the tasks on 1 December 2020, at 20:53 (2 December, 04:53 China Standard Time). The lander also made observations of the nearby lunar rocks

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-5 ascends to lunar orbit

Dec 3, 2020

The Chang’e-5 ascender separated from the lander on 3 December 2020, at 15:10 UTC (23:10 China Standard Time), and entered on an orbit around the Moon approximately six minutes later. The ascender deployed its solar panels and will rendezvous with the orbiter-sample return vehicle after a series of orbit raising maneuvers.

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-5 seen by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Dec 5, 2020

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter observed China’s Chang’e-5 lander-ascender one day after it landed on the near side of the Moon, near Mons Rümker, in the northern region of Oceanus Procellarum, on 1 December 2020, at 15:11 UTC (23:11 China Standard Time). The LROC team computed the coordinates of the lander to be 43.0576° N, 308.0839°E, –2570 m elevation, with an estimated accuracy of plus-or-minus 20 meters.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-5 - rendezvous and docking explained

Dec 5, 2020

The Chang’e-5 ascender and orbiter-sample return vehicle will automatically dock in lunar orbit. Li Gefei (researcher, Beijing Aerospace Control Center) explains the rendezvous maneuvers and Peng Jing (deputy chief designer of the Chang’e-5 probe) explains the docking process.
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-5 docking and sample transfer

Dec 5, 2020

The Chang’e-5 ascender automatically docked with the orbiter-sample return vehicle on 5 December 2020, at 21:42 UTC (6 December, at 05:42 China Standard Time). At 22:12 UTC (6 December, 06:12 CST), the sample container, containing the soil collected from the Moon, was transferred from the ascender to the sample return vehicle. Chang’e-5 will orbit the Moon for a few days, waiting for adequate window to return to Earth.

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-5 orbiter-sample return vehicle separates from ascender

Dec 6, 2020

Having completed its mission, Chang’e-5’s ascender separated from the orbiter-sample return vehicle. According to Gao Lei(CNSA official), the orbiter-returner will orbit the Moon for about six to seven days, then enter the Earth-Moon transfer orbit, and experience another three to four days of flight before returning to Earth”. For the rendezvous and docking operations Chang’e-5 used a microwave radar. After docking, the lunar samples were transferred from the ascender to the sample return vehicle.

 

[Administrator]

China’s Chang’e 5 lunar mission returns to Earth with moon samples

Dec 16, 2020

China has successfully completed its lunar mission after the Chang’e 5 spacecraft made a safe landing in Siziwang Banner of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region early on December 17, 2020. The mission brought back the first rock samples from the moon in 44 years, making China the third country to have collected lunar samples.

 

[Administrator]

Article "China's Chang'e-5 lunar probe successfully delivers moon samples to Earth"

by Jennifer Hauser and Zamira Rahim
December 17, 2020

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-5 reveals the youngest lunar samples to be directly dated

Oct 20, 2021

According to three scientific papers accepted for publication in the Nature journal, the Chang’e-5 lunar samples are the youngest to be directly dated. The analysis shows that the samples are 2.03 billion years old. The research suggests that the Moon’s interior was still evolving at around 2 billion years ago, with volcanic activity extending by around 800–900 million years more than previously thought.

 

[Administrator]

Queqiao-2 launch

Mar 20, 2024

The Long March-8 Y3 launch vehicle (长征八号遥三) launched the Queqiao-2 relay satellite (鹊桥二号中继星, Magpie Bridge-2) from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan Province, China, on 20 March 2024, at 00:31 UTC (08:31 local time). According to the China National Space Administration, “after 24 minutes of flight, the satellite separated from the rocket, and entered the planned Earth-Moon transfer orbit with the perigee at 200 kilometres and the apogee at 420,000 kilometres”. Queqiao-2 will provide communications services for the Chang’e-4, Chang’e-6, Chang’e-7 and Chang’e-8 lunar missions.

 

[Administrator]

The Queqiao-2 relay satellite

Mar 20, 2024

The Queqiao-2 relay satellite (鹊桥二号中继星, Magpie Bridge-2) was launched by the Long March-8 Y3 launch vehicle (长征八号遥三) from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, Hainan Province, China, on 20 March 2024, at 00:31 UTC (08:31 local time). Queqiao-2 will provide communications services for the Chang’e-4, Chang’e-6, Chang’e-7 and Chang’e-8 lunar missions.

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-6 launch

May 3, 2024

The Chang’e-6 lunar mission (嫦娥六号) was launched by the Long March-5 Y8 launch vehicle (长征五号遥八) from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site Hainan Province, China, on 3 May 2024, at 09:27 UTC (17:27 local time). The Chang’e-6 mission aims to return samples from the far side of the Moon.
Long March-5 Y8 launches Chang’e-6

Chang'e 6 on Wikipedia

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-6 enters lunar orbit

May 8, 2024

According to the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the Chang’e-6 lunar mission has successfully performed a braking maneuver on 8 May 2024, at 02:12 UTC (10:12 China Standard Time), and entered into an elliptical lunar orbit around the Moon. The Chang’e-6 (嫦娥六号) mission aims to return samples from the far side of the Moon.

 

[Administrator]

Chang’e-6’s international payloads

May 9, 2024

CNSA’s Chang’e-6 lunar mission (嫦娥六号) has four international payloads: Detection of Outgassing RadoN (DORN), Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS), INstrument for landing-Roving laser Retroreflector Investigations (INRRI) and the ICUBE-Qamar CubeSat (ICUBE-Q).