China makes first mooring in lunar orbit
La sonda Chang'e-5 toma muestras de la Luna, en una imagen del 2 de diciembre de 2020 publicada el día 3 por la agencia espacial china - CNSA via CNS / AFP
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The Chinese probe Chang'e 5 left the Moon on Thursday to bring samples back to Earth.
She managed this Sunday, December 6 to dock with the module placed in lunar orbit.
Another first for China's space program, state media report.
This maneuver was part of an ambitious mission to bring back rocks from its satellite to the blue planet, for the first time in more than 40 years.
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Chang'e 5 is made up of several parts: an orbiter that remained in lunar orbit throughout the mission, a moon landing gear that landed on the Moon and a module for ascent from the ground to lunar orbit.
It is the latter who,
loaded with samples of lunar soil
, docked this Sunday morning at the orbiter, according to the official China New press agency, which quoted the national space agency (CNSA).
It is for Beijing the “
first meeting and the first mooring carried out in lunar orbit
”, specifies New China.
The departure of the capsule on Thursday from the Moon was also historic for China, since it was the first time that Beijing had taken off a craft from an extraterrestrial body.
The samples, first placed in the ascent module, were transferred to a "
return capsule
", which will make the trip to the blue planet, according to New China.
Third country behind the United States and the former USSR
If the return to Earth goes smoothly, China will become the third country to bring back samples, after the United States and the former USSR.
The last attempt was Soviet, with the uninhabited Luna 24 mission successfully carried out in 1976.
The
module arrived on the Moon on Tuesday
had deployed the Chinese flag there, according to images broadcast by public television CCTV.
This mission is the next step in the Chinese space program, which struck a big blow in early 2019 by landing a machine on the far side of the Moon, a world first.
"Jade rabbits"
This is not the first time that the Asian giant has launched a device towards the lunar star as part of the Chang'e program - named after a moon goddess, according to Chinese mythology.
He has already landed two small remote-controlled robots (the “Jade Rabbits”) in 2013 and 2019.
China is investing billions of euros in its space program, in order to catch up with Europe, Russia and the United States.
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To read also: China, the first country to land on the far side of the Moon
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