Chang'e 5
Chang'e 5 (Chinese: 嫦娥五号; pinyin: Cháng'é wǔhào) was the fifth lunar exploration mission in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program of CNSA, and China's first lunar sample-return mission. Like its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess, Chang'e. It launched at 20:30 UTC on 23 November 2020, from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site on Hainan Island, landed on the Moon on 1 December 2020, collected ~1,731 g (61.1 oz) of lunar samples (including from a core ~1 m deep), and returned to the Earth at 17:59 UTC on 16 December 2020.
Chang'e 5 probe separating from the launcher (artist's impression) | |
| Mission type | Lunar sample return |
|---|---|
| Operator | CNSA |
| COSPAR ID | 2020-087A |
| SATCAT no. | 47097 |
| Mission duration | Elapsed: 3 years, 4 months, 22 days |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Manufacturer | CAST |
| Launch mass | 8,200 kg |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 23 November 2020 20:30:12 UTC 24 November 2020 04:30 CST |
| Rocket | Long March 5 |
| Launch site | Wenchang |
| Contractor | CALT |
| End of mission | |
| Landing date | 16 December 2020 17:59 UTC Return capsule |
| Landing site | Inner Mongolia, China |
| Lunar orbiter | |
| Orbital insertion | 28 November 2020 12:58 UTC |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Periapsis altitude | 200 km (120 mi) |
| Lunar lander | |
| Landing date | 1 December 2020 15:11 UTC |
| Return launch | 3 December 2020 15:10 UTC |
| Landing site | Mons Rümker, region of Oceanus Procellarum 43.0576°N 51.9161°W |
| Sample mass | 1,731 g (61.1 oz) |
| Docking with Sample Ascender | |
| Docking date | 5 December 2020, 21:42:00 UTC |
| Undocking date | 7 December 2020, 04:35:00 UTC |
| Flyby of Moon | |
| Spacecraft component | orbiter |
| Closest approach | ~9 September 2021 |
| Chang'e probes | |
| Chang'e 5 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 嫦娥五号 | ||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 嫦娥五號 | ||||||
| |||||||
Chang'e 5 was the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976. The mission made China the third country to return samples from the Moon after the United States and the Soviet Union.