Detailed mission sequence of Chang'e 5 lunar mission
16 December 2020
Jonathan McDowell compiled in his "Jonathan's Space Report No. 787" the best available sequence of events for the Chang'e 5 mission and gives a useful overview on the space craft components.
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After the mission is before the mission: Hong Kong team set sights on Chang’e 6
19 December 2020
The research team at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, led by Professor Yung Kai-leung, developed the sampling scoops and sealed container used by the Chang’e 5 mission. “The mission has ended, but not our project … We will compare the data collected on the Moon with our design parameters and evaluate any improvements that may be needed to our design for the Chang’e 6 mission,” Yung said in a press conference on 17 December at the university campus.
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Chang'e 5 samples transferred to research teams
19 December 2020
In the morning of the 19 December, the 1.731 kg of Moon samples collected by the Chang'e 5 mission have been transferred to the Chinese research teams responsible for storage and analysis of the material. A Lunar Samples Handover Ceremony took place at the China National Space Administration in Beijing where Zhang Kejian, Head of CNSA, transferred the container to Hou Jianguo, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
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photo gallery of the Moon Sample Laboratory at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing
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Chang'e 5: 1,731 grams of lunar samples officially handed over
Next lunar mission to sample material on South Pole or the far side
18 December 2020
Wu Yanhua, Deputy Head of China National Space Administration, told China Daily on 17 December after a news conference in Beijing that project managers' current plans call for the Chang'e 6 robotic probe to land on the lunar South Pole. "But if the Queqiao (relay satellite) still functions well by the time we launch Chang'e 6, we may also consider sending it to the far side to take some samples there," he said. "This is because there has never been a mission to return samples from the far side, and if we do so ...that will be very meaningful to scientists around the world."
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Wu Weiren CLEP's Chief Designer: China to build research station prototype at Moon's South Pole