The launch of the Changzheng-5 launch vehicle is scheduled for November 24
HAIKOU, November 21. /TASS/. The management of the spaceport in the city of Wenchang on the North-Eastern coast of the southern Chinese province of Hainan prepared the infrastructure for the launch of the Chang'e-5 spacecraft, which will deliver samples of lunar soil from the planet's natural satellite to Earth. According to the Chinese aerospace science and technology Corporation, all work is being carried out in normal mode in accordance with the schedule.
According to sources of China's leading space-related information portal, Hantian aihaozhe, the launch of the Changzheng-5 launch vehicle is scheduled for November 24 and will take place between 04:00 and 07:00 local time (from 23:00 Monday to 02:00 Tuesday Moscow time). It has already been moved out of the hangar and installed on the platform. In the next couple of days, the Changzheng-5 will be tested and refueled.
For the first time in the last 44 years, humanity will carry out a mission to deliver samples of geological rock from the moon, which is planned to be extracted from a depth of two meters. Then one of the Chang'e-5 modules will take off, make an automatic docking in orbit, and then a 2 kg cargo will be sent to Earth with the help of the return vehicle. If successful, China will become the third country in the world after Russia and the United States to implement such a project.
According to local experts, the upcoming launch "will be one of the most difficult in the history of Chinese space exploration." "Previously, our vehicles returned at the first space speed, which is 7.9 km per second. This time we will have to do it for the second time - it is about 11.2 km per second, " explained Yu Dengyun, Deputy chief engineer Of the center for lunar exploration and space programs (CLEP) Of the national space administration of China. "Many mission parameters are becoming more complex, including those related to the aerodynamic qualities, the thermal stability of the materials [of the returned capsule], and the control [of the process of its delivery to Earth]."
According to Chinese designers, they had to pay special attention to technologies that had not been used in China before. They recalled that the moon's gravity is only one-sixth that of earth's, so it is of paramount importance to observe the parameters for collecting samples. In addition, the device takes off from the lunar surface under conditions that differ in many ways from the launch features on Earth.
Space technology
The Changzheng-5 multi-stage launch vehicle runs on hydrogen fuel and is capable of delivering cargo weighing up to 25 tons to low-earth orbit. It has already been used five times: in November 2016 to launch the shijian-17 satellite, then in July 2017 (when there was a problem with the engine, which was later eliminated), in December 2019 (commissioning of the Shijian-20 aircraft), in may this year (testing a prototype of a manned spacecraft), and in July, when the Chinese space probe Tianwen-1 was sent to Mars.
The Chang'e-5 lunar vehicle weighs 8.2 tons and consists of four modules designed for landing on the moon, taking off from its surface, docking and reloading containers with samples in orbit, and returning to Earth. The mission was originally planned for 2017, then moved to the end of 2019, and then to November of this year.
China is actively developing its national space program, developing meteorological, telecommunications and navigation satellites, as well as technologies for lunar exploration. In late July and early August, Chinese scientists launched the first national project to explore Mars, which they intend to begin intensive study of the surface in the near future. Among the promising Chinese programs is the study of asteroids and mining on them. In 2018 and 2019, Beijing led the world in the number of launches, completing them 39 and 34 times, respectively.