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Chang’e-5 lunar mission

2020 NOV 25

Preliminary   > Science and Technology   >   Space technology   >   Space organisations & missions

Why in news?

  • China’s Chang’e-5 lunar mission was launched recently.

What is the Chang’e-5 mission?

  • Chang’e-5 probe, is the Chinese National Space Administration’s (CNSA) lunar sample return mission that is set to launch on November 24 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on Hainan Island in China.
  • The goal of the mission is to land in the Mons Rumker region of the moon, where it will operate for one lunar day, which is two weeks long and return a 2 kg sample of the lunar rock possibly by digging about 2 metres deep into the surface of the Moon.
  • If successful it will become the first probe in over four decades to bring back samples of lunar rock from a previously unexplored portion of the Moon.
  • The mission comprises a lunar orbiter, a lander and an ascent probe that will lift the lunar samples back into orbit and return them back to Earth.
  • Chang’e-5 comprises a robotic arm, a coring drill, a sample chamber and is also equipped with a camera, penetrating radar and a spectrometer.
  • The spacecraft is set to return to Earth around December 15.

PRELIMS QUESTION

Consider the following statements:
1.Voyager 1 and 2 were spacecrafts launched by NASA to study Jupiter and Saturn.
2.OSIRIS-Rex, a NASA spacecraft was the first to land on an asteroid.
Which among the above statements is/are correct?
(a)1 only 
(b)2 only 
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to prelims question