China News Service, Beijing, November 29 (Guo Chaokai) The reporter learned from the China National Space Administration that at 20:23 on November 29, Beijing time, the Chang'e-5 probe “brakes” again at the near-moon point, from the elliptical orbit of the moon. It becomes a nearly circular orbit around the moon.
Photo courtesy of China National Space Administration
The Chang'e-5 probe was launched at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in China on November 24, starting its lunar sample return journey.
At 20:58 on November 28, the Chang'e-5 probe flew to the moon for about 112 hours and successfully ignited a 3000 N engine at a distance of about 400 kilometers from the lunar surface. About 17 minutes later, the engine shut down normally.
According to real-time telemetry data monitoring and judgment, the Chang'e-5 probe braked normally in the recent month and entered the orbit around the moon smoothly.
According to reports, near-moon braking is one of the key orbital controls during the flight of the lunar probe.
When the high-speed probe approaches the moon, it will apply "brake" braking, in order to make its relative speed lower than the moon's escape speed, and thus be captured by the moon's gravity.
Later, the Chang'e-5 probe will choose an opportunity to separate the lander and ascender combination from the orbiter and returner combination.
The lander and ascender combination will carry out a soft landing on the lunar front, and work such as automatic lunar surface sampling will be carried out as planned.
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