BEIJING - At the climax of a landmark mission, the lander-ascender combination of China's Chang'e 5 robotic lunar probe has started gathering lunar rocks and soil after landing on the moon late on Tuesday night.
The China National Space Administration said in a statement on Wednesday morning that the drilling and packing processes of rocks and soil from 2 meters beneath lunar surface concluded at 4:53 am. A mechanical arm is continuing gathering surface samples.
The combination landed on the moon at 11:11 pm on Tuesday, becoming the third spacecraft that has successfully touched down on the lunar surface this century. The first two crafts that had achieved this feat are also from China – the Chang'e 3 and 4.
The panoramic camera circled imaging is taken after the Chang'e 5's lander-ascender combination landed on the moon. [Photo provided by China National Space Administration]
If everything processes well, the lander-ascender pair would work about two days on a region to the north of Mons Ruemker, a mountain overlooking a vast lunar mare called Oceanus Procellarum, or the Ocean of Storms, on the western edge of the moon's near side.
It is tasked with bringing about 2 kilograms of samples back to Earth in mid-December, 44 years after the last substances from the moon were returned to Earth, according to the administration.
A photo taken at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) shows the China's Chang'e 5 robotic lunar probe landing on the moon, Dec 2, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
As the landing procedures began as scheduled at 10:57 pm, the lander-ascender combination of the 8.2-metric ton Chang'e 5 started its 7,500-newton-thrust engine to reduce its flying speed and began to descend toward the moon from about 15 kilometers above the lunar surface.
When the lander-ascender reached an altitude of 2.5 km, it conducted a rapid positional adjustment and continued approaching the lunar surface.
During the engine-assisted process, cameras on the lander-ascender took pictures of the landing site and transmitted them to computers to identify possible hazards on the surface such as large rocks so the craft could maneuver to avoid them.
The lander-ascender suspended its descent when it was about 100 meters from the moon and hovered for a short time to carry out accurate detection of obstacles before continuing to descend at a slower, steady speed.
At the last moment of the challenging operation when the craft was several meters above the surface, its engine stopped and it touched down on the lunar surface at 11:11 pm.
China's largest and most sophisticated lunar probe, Chang'e 5 was launched by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket on Nov 24 at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province.
Photo taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) in Beijing on Dec 1, 2020 shows the landing process of Chang'e 5 spacecraft. China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft successfully landed on the near side of the moon late Tuesday and sent back images, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. At 11:11 pm, the spacecraft landed at the preselected landing area near 51.8 degrees west longitude and 43.1 degrees north latitude, said the CNSA. During the landing process, the cameras aboard the lander took images of the landing area, said the CNSA. [Photo/Xinhua]
The spacecraft has four components-an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a reentry capsule.
Before landing, Chang'e 5 separated into two parts-the orbiter-reentry capsule combination and the lander-ascender combination-early on Monday morning.
While the lander-ascender has started surface operations, the orbiter-reentry capsule is in lunar orbit at an average altitude of about 200 km above the moon, according to the space administration.
After the collection and packing operations are completed, a 3,000-newton-thrust engine on the ascender will lift it to rendezvous and dock with the reentry module. It will transfer the lunar samples to the module and then separate from it.
If the mission is successful, it will make China the third nation to bring samples back from the moon, after the United States and the former Soviet Union.
A photo taken at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) shows the China's Chang'e 5 robotic lunar probe landing on the moon, Dec 2, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
Photo taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) in Beijing on Dec 1, 2020 shows the Chang'e 5 spacecraft landing on the moon. China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft successfully landed on the near side of the moon late Tuesday and sent back images, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. At 11:11 pm, the spacecraft landed at the preselected landing area near 51.8 degrees west longitude and 43.1 degrees north latitude, said the CNSA. During the landing process, the cameras aboard the lander took images of the landing area, said the CNSA. [Photo/Xinhua]
Photo taken at Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) in Beijing on Dec 1, 2020 shows the Chang'e 5 spacecraft landing on the moon. China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft successfully landed on the near side of the moon late Tuesday and sent back images, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. At 11:11 pm, the spacecraft landed at the preselected landing area near 51.8 degrees west longitude and 43.1 degrees north latitude, said the CNSA. During the landing process, the cameras aboard the lander took images of the landing area, said the CNSA. [Photo/Xinhua]
Photo provided by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows an image taken by camera aboard Chang'e 5 spacecraft after its landing on the moon. China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft successfully landed on the near side of the moon late Tuesday and sent back images, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. At 11:11 pm, the spacecraft landed at the preselected landing area near 51.8 degrees west longitude and 43.1 degrees north latitude, said the CNSA. During the landing process, the cameras aboard the lander took images of the landing area, said the CNSA. [Photo/CNSA]
Photo provided by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) shows an image taken by camera aboard Chang'e 5 spacecraft during its landing process. China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft successfully landed on the near side of the moon late Tuesday and sent back images, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. At 11:11 pm, the spacecraft landed at the preselected landing area near 51.8 degrees west longitude and 43.1 degrees north latitude, said the CNSA. During the landing process, the cameras aboard the lander took images of the landing area, said the CNSA. [Photo/CNSA]
Technical personnel work at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) in Beijing, capital of China, Dec 1, 2020. China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft successfully landed on the near side of the moon late Tuesday and sent back images, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. At 11:11 pm, the spacecraft landed at the preselected landing area near 51.8 degrees west longitude and 43.1 degrees north latitude, said the CNSA. During the landing process, the cameras aboard the lander took images of the landing area, said the CNSA. [Photo/CNSA]
Technical personnel work at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) in Beijing, capital of China, Dec 1, 2020. China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft successfully landed on the near side of the moon late Tuesday and sent back images, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. At 11:11 pm, the spacecraft landed at the preselected landing area near 51.8 degrees west longitude and 43.1 degrees north latitude, said the CNSA. During the landing process, the cameras aboard the lander took images of the landing area, said the CNSA. [Photo/CNSA]
Technical personnel work at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) in Beijing, capital of China, Dec 1, 2020. China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft successfully landed on the near side of the moon late Tuesday and sent back images, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. At 11:11 pm, the spacecraft landed at the preselected landing area near 51.8 degrees west longitude and 43.1 degrees north latitude, said the CNSA. During the landing process, the cameras aboard the lander took images of the landing area, said the CNSA. [Photo/CNSA]
Technical personnel work at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) in Beijing, capital of China, Dec 1, 2020. China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft successfully landed on the near side of the moon late Tuesday and sent back images, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. At 11:11 pm, the spacecraft landed at the preselected landing area near 51.8 degrees west longitude and 43.1 degrees north latitude, said the CNSA. During the landing process, the cameras aboard the lander took images of the landing area, said the CNSA. [Photo/CNSA]
An illustration of the landing process of the Chang'e 5's lander-ascender combination. [PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY]
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