After these samples are collected, they’ll be transferred to the ascent module. The ascent module will separate from the lander via springs before firing its own rocket motor. CNSA chose this approach to minimize the risk of damaging the lander itself.
Once in orbit, the ascent module will unfold and deploy its own solar panels before rendezvousing with the orbiting service module, which holds the Earth return module. The ascent module will then dock with the service module, where the lunar samples will be transferred to the return module.
With the samples set for their return trip, the ascent module will then be jettisoned from the area. After several more lunar orbits, the service module (still paired to the Earth return module) will fire its rocket engine, beginning its journey back to Earth.
Upon entering Earth orbit, the return module will separate from the service module and begin its descent to the surface. The Earth return module will follow a curved trajectory that skips it through the atmosphere to slow down before deploying a parachute system. Finally, it plans to float down and “softly” land in Mongolia.
Can Chang’e 5 pull it off?
If all goes well — and that’s a tall order — CNSA will accomplish an impressive technological feat that hasn’t been pulled off by any nation for more than four decades. And Chang’e 5 is just the latest in a series of ambitious lunar missions by CNSA, each of which has incrementally built on the lessons learned from its predecessors.
Assuming Chang’e 5 succeeds, the next planned CNSA mission to the Moon (Chang’e 6) would shift focus to the lunar South Pole.
Chang’e 6 is nearly identical in design to Chang’e 5, although it will carry some different so-called “secondary” instruments. For instance, Chang’e 5 carries the privately funded Manfred Memorial Moon Mission package, including a radiation dosimeter and a radio transmitter intended to be picked up by amateur operators on Earth. Meanwhile, the secondary payload for Chang’e 6 includes the French Detection of Outgassing Radon (DORN) instrument. And the Chang’e 7 and 8 missions might even include a lunar rover, as well as miniature flying drones.
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