10 December 2020
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron reached important consensus on China-France cooperation in the next stage during a phone conversation on 09 December. The two heads of state held discussions on the bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the next stage, reached a number of important consensus and instructed relevant departments of the two countries to step up implementation of more cooperation in such fields as biomedicine, biological breeding, Moon and Mars exploration and satellite research and development.
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10 December 2020
Two satellites for the detection of gravitational waves are launched by a Long March-11 carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in southwest China's Sichuan Province on 10 December 2020 at 4:14 BJT. Both satellites are for the detection of gravitational waves, composing the Gravitational Wave High-energy Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) mission. The GECAM satellites will be used to monitor high-energy celestial phenomena such as gravitational wave gamma-ray bursts, high-energy radiation of fast radio bursts, special gamma-ray bursts and magnetar bursts, and to study neutron stars, black holes and other compact objects and their merger processes.
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12 December 2020
After 6 days in circular lunar orbit, the Chang'e 5 return capsule raised its orbit into an elliptical path. This orbital maneuver at 9:54 BJT on 12 December prepared the spacecraft for the 2nd manoeuvre to higher the ellipse again and make it consequently possible for the craft to enter a Moon-Earth transfer trajectory and bring the 2 kg of lunar samples home.
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13 December 2020
At 9:51 BJT, the Chang'e 5 orbiter-re-entry capsule combination carried out its 2nd Moon-Earth transfer injection manoeuvre. Chang'e 5 was at 230 km distance from the Moon's surface when the four 150 N engines of the orbiter fired for 22 minutes. According to real-time monitoring data, the orbiter-returner combination entered the targeted return trajectory successfully. The spacecraft will conduct further flight path adjustments before separating the return capsule which will undergo skip re-entry and subsequent parachute landing.
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footage showing parts of the return flight and landing sequence (requires log-in)
14 December 2020
The Chang'e 5 probe made its 1st orbital correction on its way back to Earth. At 11:13 BJT, the two 25 Newton engines fired for 28 sec.