The space race and the moon landing have captured the attention of our nation since the cold war era when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first stepped out onto the rocky white lunar surface in 1969. For years their heroic adventure and the work of NASA have inspired movies, television, and print sci-fi adventures ranging from realistic to complete fiction. It’s been 50 years since the United States last landed on the moon with Apollo 11, but it seems that landing on the moon may be far from over.
On a mission to collect and return moon rocks, China’s Chang’e 5 met the surface of Earth’s only natural satellite on Tuesday, December 1st, 2020. Chang’e is a probe, powered by solar panels, with no humans on board.
Did Chang’e Complete its Mission?
The Chang’e 5 probe successfully drilled and mined moon rocks from the surface of the moon, but the mission was far from over. On Saturday, December 5th the Chang’e 5 re-docked with its orbiting counterpart to complete the first-ever unmanned lunar orbit rendezvous. Assuming the probe re-enters the Earth's atmosphere and is recovered successfully, it will be the first time in over 40 years that moon rocks have been successfully harvested and returned to earth since the Soviets in 1976.
The Chang’e will need to orbit the moon for roughly another week before it will be in the correct positioning to continue on its way back towards earth. While there is a lot that could happen in a week, Chinese officials are confident that their mission will be completed successfully.
What’s Next?
Perhaps more important to anything, the Chang’e successfully completing its mission is proof for the Chinese that they will be able to partake in non-manned and fully-robotic missions in deep space exploration. The Chinese will study the moon rocks in hopes of uncovering any unknown history or knowledge they may hold.
What are People Saying about Chang’e 5 and the Chinese Moon Landing?
Comments