17 December 2020
China's Dark Matter Particle Explorer "Wukong" will extend its mission in space by another year, as it is still functioning well after 5 years of service. The satellite was launched in December 2015 as China's first dark matter probe satellite and originally designed to serve in space for 3 years, but its operators decided at the end of 2018 to extend its service life by 2 years. Chang Jin, an Academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Chief Scientist of the Wukong project, said the satellite's latest mission extension was greenlighted by the National Space Science Center after an evaluation of its current condition.
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16/17 December 2020
... the world celebrates Chang'e 5 bringing home Moon samples from the region Mons Rümkers. The return capsule of the Chang'e 5 lunar probe touched down on 17 December at 1:59 BJT in Siziwang Banner, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. After a hiatus of 44 years, mankind has again access to new lunar material.
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CCTV footage of landing and search-and-rescue (might ask for log-in)
YouTube footage of landing and search operations
updated news on Xinhua:
China's spacecraft brings home Moon samples
14 December 2020
Blaine Curcio of Orbital Gateway Consulting and Jean Deville of China Aerospace Blog summarised for SpaceWatch.Global the most important weekly news from the Chinese aerospace sector. They report on the progress by iSpace, the CZ-11 launch, COMAC's performance, and the National Radio and Television Administration Announcement.
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Dongfanghour podcast - The only English podcast discussing Chinese aerospace and technology
16 December 2020
The return capsule of the Chang'e 5 mission is set to land in the Inner Mongolia region in the early morning hours of the 17 December (BJT) but it still has many challenges to overcome, Bian Hancheng, the Recovery Mission Commander, says. Six military helicopters would use heat-seeking devices to try and track the capsule as it fell from the sky above Dorbod banner – close to the region’s border with Mongolia – and once they had a confirmed sighting, a ground team would be alerted and race to the touchdown site.
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footage from the recovery exercises and explanation of the challenges involved in the recovery
16 December 2020
On 16 December at 8:20 BJT, the Long March-8 Y1 rocket was vertically transported to the launching area of the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Centre. Next, the rocket will be filled with propellant and readied for launch in late December. The Long March-8 rocket is a new model that is potentially reusable.
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