Under The Angsana Tree: China completes its first-ever docking in lunar orbit

06/12/2020

China completes its first-ever docking in lunar orbit

Chinese probe carrying samples from the lunar surface successfully docked on December 6. (AFP)

A Chinese probe carrying samples from the lunar surface successfully docked Sunday with a spacecraft orbiting the moon, in another space first for the nation, state media reported.

The manoeuvre was part of the ambitious Chang'e-5 mission -- named after a mythical Chinese Moon goddess -- to bring back the first lunar samples in four decades.

The cargo capsule carrying lunar rocks and soil lifted off from the surface on Thursday, and docked with the orbiter on Sunday morning, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

Xinhua said it was China's first "rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit".

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Chang'e-5 completes China's first docking in lunar orbit

Screen image captured at Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 6, 2020 shows the rendezvous and docking of the ascender of China's Chang'e-5 probe with the orbiter-returner combination. The ascender of China's Chang'e-5 probe successfully rendezvoused and docked with the orbiter-returner combination in lunar orbit at 5:42 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Sunday, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) has announced. This is the first time Chinese spacecraft have carried out rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

After a successful liftoff from the lunar surface and rendezvous in lunar orbit, China's Chang'e-5 lunar probe docked with the orbital module on Sunday, with the lunar samples safely transferred to the return capsule, China's first successful attempt at such a maneuver made possible by cutting-edge technologies. It is a visionary endeavor that lays a technological foundation for future deep-space exploration, observers said.

The probe's ascender successfully docked with the orbital module in lunar orbit on Sunday at 5:42 am, some 380,000 kilometers from the Earth, and completed the lunar sample transfer at 6:12 am from the ascender to the return capsule, the Global Times learned from the China National Space Administration (CNSA). It is the first time China has achieved a probe rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit. Under autonomous control from the probe and long-distance guidance from the command team in ground control, the orbital module approached the ascender after it launched from the moon, and captured it in a smooth operation.

The return capsule carrying the lunar materials weighing two kilograms separated from the orbital module in lunar orbit at 12:35 pm on Sunday, and now it is waiting for a suitable window to return to the Earth, CNSA said. The docking maneuver was described by Chinese netizens as "a kiss from space," as thousands of stargazers watch every step of the probe's odyssey. Space fans have witnessed several major breakthroughs in China's aerospace history.

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