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  China's Chang'e-5 T1: Lunar sample precursor

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Author Topic:   China's Chang'e-5 T1: Lunar sample precursor
Robert Pearlman
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Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-22-2014 11:10 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
China will launch Chang'e-5 T1, a new lunar mission to test technology likely to be used in Chang'e-5, a future lunar probe with the ability to return samples to Earth, Xinhua reports.
The mission will involve the spacecraft entering, exiting, and re-entering the Earth's atmosphere and landing on Earth, the source said.

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 may return from the moon at a very high speed, according to the scientists' explanation.

The Chang'e-5 probe, expected to launch in 2017, will be tasked with landing on the moon, collecting samples and returning to Earth.

The probe, which could launch as soon as Thursday (Oct. 23) at 1:59 p.m. EDT (17:59 GMT), is reportedly based on the Chang'e 2 lunar orbiter design augmented with a reentry test capsule. The Chang'e 5 T1 mission, which is an informal name, is to last some eight days.

Flying along with the mission on the third stage of the Long March rocket will be a small commercial payload, the Manfred Memorial Moon Mission (4M), developed by LuxSpace.

dom
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posted 10-22-2014 12:47 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for dom   Click Here to Email dom     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
A mini-Shenzhou! All they have to do is scale that up for a manned mission later?

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
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posted 10-23-2014 04:56 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
China launched its Chang'e-5 T1 mission on Thursday, the Xinhua state news agency reported.
The lunar orbiter was launched atop an advanced Long March-3C rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The test spacecraft separated from its carrier rocket and entered the expected the orbit shortly after the liftoff, according to the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.

The whole mission will take about eight days. Developed by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the spacecraft will fly around the moon for half a circle and return to Earth.

On its return, the test spacecraft will approach the terrestrial atmosphere at a velocity of nearly 11.2 kilometers per second and rebound to slow down before re-entering the atmosphere. It will land in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-28-2014 02:34 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Chang'e 5 T1 has returned images of the far side of the moon and the Earth:

Dave_Johnson
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posted 10-28-2014 04:19 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Dave_Johnson   Click Here to Email Dave_Johnson     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
That's a spectacular image of the Earth and Moon together!

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 10-31-2014 09:30 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
China succeeded Friday (Oct. 31) in the world's first mission to the moon in more than 40 years, becoming the third nation to do so after the former Soviet Union and the United States, Xinhua reported.
The test lunar orbiter, nicknamed "Xiaofei" on Chinese social networks, landed in Siziwang Banner of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region early Saturday morning.

Search teams have already recovered the orbiter at the designated landing area, about 500 kilometers away from Beijing.

...calling "Xiaofei" a pathfinder for Chang'e-5, Zhou Jianliang, chief engineer with the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center, said the data acquired by the lunar orbiter will optimize technology for Chang'e-5.

Hao Xifan, deputy chief of China's third phase lunar exploration program, also said the mission validated ground support capacities, craft landing technology and recoverable spacecraft technology.

According to Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, Chang'e-5 is expected to collect a 2-kg sample from two meters under the Moon's surface and bring it home.

alanh_7
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From: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Apr 2008

posted 11-01-2014 07:32 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for alanh_7   Click Here to Email alanh_7     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
The re-entry vehicle looks very much like a miniature Soyuz/Shenzhou and I really good shape. Any speculation on whether a full size version will follow the same mission profile in the future?

Robert Pearlman
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From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 11-01-2014 09:36 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Robert Pearlman   Click Here to Email Robert Pearlman     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
That is the full-size version. This isn't a capsule meant to carry humans, but rather robotically-retrieved lunar samples, much like Lunokhod.

MarylandSpace
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posted 11-01-2014 11:45 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for MarylandSpace   Click Here to Email MarylandSpace     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
That is a great photo of the Earth and the Moon. Congratulations on a successful mission.

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