Topics Covered: Awareness in space.
Chang’e-5 probe:
Context:
It is an unmanned spacecraft launched by China recently.
About the Chang’e-5 probe:
- The probe is named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess.
- The rocket is comprised of four parts: an orbiter, a returner, an ascender and a lander.
- The objective of the mission is to bring back lunar rocks, the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the moon in four decades.
- If successful, China will be only the third country to have retrieved samples from the moon, following the U.S. and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.
- This will help scientists learn about the moon’s origins, formation and volcanic activity on its surface.
Identified location for the collection of samples:
The Chinese probe will collect 2 kg of surface material from a previously unexplored area known as Oceanus Procellarum — or “Ocean of Storms” — which consist of a vast lava plain.
The Chang’e-5 mission is expected to realize four “firsts” in China’s space history:
- The first time for a probe to take off from the surface of the Moon.
- The first time to automatically sample the lunar surface.
- The first time to conduct unmanned rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit.
- The first time to return to Earth with lunar soil samples in escape velocity.
Sources: the Hindu.
