China Readies Moon Mission for Launch Next Week

[Contrarian]

Best of luck guys!

 

[MarkovChain]

Good luck China!

 

[Sasquatch]

What are China's future plans regarding manned space mission?

Finishing our Space Station, Possible manned moon landing, finally mining in space.

 

[thesolar65]

Best of best efforts, China!! (I cannot say Luck here)....

 

[liall]

Finishing our Space Station, Possible manned moon landing, finally mining in space.

Do you think there could be collaboration between India and China on space missions? We just signed partnership with NASA on 2 missions one LEO and other to MARS.

 

[Sasquatch]

Do you think there could be collaboration between India and China on space missions? We just signed partnership with NASA on 2 missions one LEO and other to MARS.

Sure why not, China welcomed foreign countries to our space station once complete, we were barred from joining the ISS and NASA cooperation.

 

[cirr]

Do you think there could be collaboration between India and China on space missions? We just signed partnership with NASA on 2 missions one LEO and other to MARS.

China is open to cooperations of all sorts and manners。

Space exploration is no exception。

 

[SirHatesALot]

Best of Luck.

 

[AnnoyingOrange]

All the best to Chinee space ageñcy..

 

[TaiShang]

China Readies Moon Mission for Launch Next Week
By Leonard David, Space.com's Space Insider Columnist | October 14, 2014 07:00am ET

China’s lunar sample program involves upcoming re-entry capsule test to evaluate high-speed plunge into Earth’s atmosphere.

CASC Chang'e 5, a future robotic mission that will land on the moon, collect samples and return those specimens to Earth.

According to China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, the soon-to-fly craft is a backup probe of Chang'e 3 — the nation's first moon lander and rover, which successfully touched down on Earth's nearest neighbor in December 2013.

Chang'e 4 will be adapted to verify technologies needed for Chang'e 5, the third step in China's methodical moon-landing program, according to Chinese news agencies.

Long March booster being readied to support China's next mooncraft takeoff this month, dedicated to testing technology for future lunar sample-return mission. Credit: CASC

The challenging Chang'e 5 mission, set to launch around 2018, will require technological breakthroughs in numerous areas, such as moon landing and takeoff, sample collection and encapsulation, lunar-orbit rendezvous and docking and high-speed Earth re-entry, Chinese officials have said.

"We have begun to study how the Chang'e 5 will blast off from
the moon and dock with the in-orbit re-entry capsule," said Wang Pengji, a space expert at the China Academy of Space Technology.

China’s newest moon probe arrived in August at the Xichang launch site, according to a statement from the administration.

The state-run Xinhua news agency has reported that the plan is for the spacecraft to be launched to lunar orbit, then return to Earth at a blistering speed of more than 25,000 mph (40,230 km/h). It will parachute onto terra firma to complete its journey.

Onboard China's moon-bound booster is a hitchhiking payload provided by the European space technology company OHB AG. This private "4M mission" to the moon is dedicated to OHB founder Manfred Fuchs, who died earlier this year. (4M stands for the Manfred Memorial Moon Mission.)

Technical management of the 4M mission is led by LuxSpace of Luxembourg, an affiliate of OHB AG. LuxSpace chiefly develops microsatellites and actively participates in the OHB System-led Small GEO initiative.

The 31-pound (14 kilograms) 4M probe is designed to fly by the moon and then return Earthward.

Tucked inside the small spacecraft are several scientific instruments, including a radio beacon that permits the sending of messages while testing a new approach to locate the spacecraft. LuxSpace is encouraging radio amateurs around the globe to receive the transmissions and send in data.

An additional instrument will measure radiation levels throughout the satellite's trajectory around the moon, using a special chip provided by Spanish company iC-Málaga.

The 4M lunar flyby amateur radio payload was shipped to the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Oct. 2.

Editor's Note for Oct. 16: While there is little official China word on this mission, there are some reports that the next lunar flight by China is dubbed Chang'e 5 T1 or precursor mission, and not Chang'e 4. Also there are new reports that tag the mission as a circumlunar free return trajectory back to Earth for landing on Oct. 31/Nov. 1.

 

[GeHAC]

CE5 T1 is a pathfinder satellite for further lunar mission.Waiting for another rover

 

[osama zafar]

Gluck maties!

 

[ranjeet]

Good luck to China.

 

[abhi21]

Best of luck..

 

[Jf Thunder]

All the best