Late to the space race, China is making strides with Chang’e 5 moon landing
- China may be a late contender in the space race but the success of Chang’e 5 is an important milestone that moves it ever closer to building a base on the moon
China may be a late arrival to the space race, long dominated by the United States and Russia, but it has not been for the lack of imagination. Chinese literary legend Lu Xun translated From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne, hoping to promote an interest in science. Mao Dun credited the traditional legend of moon goddess Chang’e, after which the latest mooncraft is named, as a powerful native archetype for lunar exploration.
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China launches Chang’e-5 mission to bring back rocks from moon
The 18,000-pound craft, launched from Hainan province by a Long March 5 rocket, is divided into four sections: a service module, a “returner” capsule designed for re-entry to earth, a lunar lander and lunar ascender.
The Chang’e 5 mission is an abbreviated one, expected to last a day on the moon, which is about two weeks on earth. It will study its landing site with ground-penetrating radar, panoramic cameras, and an imaging spectrometer.
The solar-powered Chang’e 5, covered in reflective foil, is designed to handle the moon’s scorching daytime temperatures but not equipped to deal with the deep freeze of a lunar night. Once the sun sets below the cratered horizon, the temperature can drop to a minus-232 degrees Celsius.
How China’s Chang’e 5 could take giant leap for world’s space missions
The lunar polar area, with its oblique sunlight and long shadows, is thought to include craters harbouring ice. Elsewhere on the moon, the searing radiation of sunlight causes instant sublimation.
If a moon base is built, it is likely to be in the shadowy polar zone because water is too heavy to transport in volume from Earth. Water on the moon can be used to produce food, rocket fuel and oxygen while a layer of ice, if abundant, offers natural shelter from deadly solar rays.
Philip J. Cunningham is the author of Tiananmen Moon, a first-hand account of the 1989 Beijing student protests