China to Launch Chang’e-5 Probe to Collect Samples from the Moon in 2019

Around the end of 2019, China will launch a probe to gather samples from the moon, according to a space official. This comes weeks after Beijing celebrated the successful landing on the far side of the moon.

On Jan 3rd, 2019 the Chang’e-4 lunar probe landed on the dark side of the moon and sent back the first-ever “close range” image of it.

China’s National Space Administration hailed the event as one that lifted the mysterious veil from the far side of the moon and claimed it as a significant accomplishment for the country’s ambitious space program.

Chang’e-4’s tasks include astronomical observation, surveying the moon’s terrain and mineral composition, and measuring the neutron radiation and neutral atoms to examine the far side’s environment.

The Chang’e-5 mission, is slated to gather samples from the near side of the moon and it will be done at the end of the year, while another probe will be sent to Mars by 2020, according to Wu Yanhua, deputy head of the space administration, during a briefing.

The Chang’e 5 mission will lay the groundwork for further probes to be sent to the moon’s south pole and possibly to send back samples from the far side of the moon, based on the results collected in the upcoming mission, as per Wu.

Mr Wu explained that tests performed by future missions could lay the groundwork for building on the moon’s surface, by testing technologies such as 3D printing or the use of moon soil for construction.

Mr Wu also added that China, the United States, Russia and European nations, among others, are all looking into whether or not to build a base or research station on the moon.

Since the moon is tidally locked to Earth and rotates at the same rate as it orbits our planet, most of the far side — or “dark side” — is never visible to us. Although other spacecraft have seen the far side, none have landed on it until now.

In recent years, China has made space exploration a top priority racing to catch up with Russia and the United States and become a major space power by 2030. Beijing intends to launch construction of its own manned space station in 2020.

Learn more on Asgardia.Space