02 December 2020
SpaceNews published a commentary by Louis D. Friedman of The Planetary Society in which he advocates closer international cooperation in deep-space exploration, including China: "Each nation’s current lunar and Mars programs would continue on their current course, but could be gradually enhanced with international cooperation while serving the bigger context of human activity on the moon and Mars. Those expecting commercial development and other private ventures on the moon will find Earth’s nearest neighbor large enough to accommodate lots of interests. China’s presence is not uncertain - they are doing that anyway. The scale and the reality of lunar development can only be enhanced by coordination and cooperation."
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06 December 2020
A Gaofen 14 satellite was launched by a Long March-3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan Province, on 6 December 2020 at 11:58 BJT. The satellite is tasked with obtaining high-definition stereoscopic images of the globe that can be used to generate large-scale digital topographic maps, digital orthophoto maps and other products.
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06 December 2020
In one of the 11 steps to bring 2 kg of Moon samples back to Earth, the ascender of China's Chang'e 5 lunar probe has docked with the orbiter module and is ready to return. Not long after the docking completed, the engineers at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (COSIC) revealed the technologies they had developed for the Chang'e 5 mission.
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06 December 2020
The ascent stage of the Chang'e 5 lunar probe successfully rendezvoused and docked with the orbiter-re-entry combination in lunar orbit on 6 December at 5:42 BJT, CNSA announced. The samples collected on the Moon had been transferred from the ascender to the return segment safely by 6:12 BJT. At 12:35 BJT, the space craft combination of orbiter and return section separated again from the ascent stage. The orbiter-returner combination will continue to orbit the moon, and wait for the right time to return to Earth with the 2kg of lunar samples. The Chang'e 5 return capsule is expected to land in Siziwang Banner (Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region) in mid-December.
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Video of docking sequence and probe handling
or here with English subtitles
photo gallery
Orbiter-returner combination of Chang'e-5 separates from ascender
Video of moment of separation at 12:35 BJT