China announced yesterday that it's Chang'e-5 probe had successfully touched down on the lunar surface. The probe completed its drilling, sampling, and sealing process for its lunar soil samples at 04:53 BJT on Wednesday. The successfully gathered samples marked the first automatic sampling to take place on the moon.
It would appear that China has landed on our moon, once again. The Chang'e-5 mission (嫦娥五号) works with China's mission module ready to bring back samples from the surface of our nearest space neighbor. The landing was expected to take place near the mountain Mons Rumker, in the Oceanus Porocellarum region on our moon. The announcement was made in a statement from state-run CGTN news this morning.
There are many challenges in front of the NASA Artemis mission that will put humans on the moon again for the first time in decades. While lots of aspects of the Artemis mission are still undecided, NASA is hard at work gathering data and companies to help it tackle obstacles to make the missions happen. The space agency recently offered a prize purse worth $25,000 to help design systems for astronauts to use for unloading cargo on the lunar surface.
Less than a week ago, we mentioned China had launched its Chang'e 5 mission to the moon. The goal of the mission is to gather lunar samples and return them to Earth for study. China has announced that the spacecraft has now entered orbit around the moon.
Tonight and early Monday morning will provide something for skywatchers to get up early for. November's full moon has a strange name; it's known as the beaver moon. That's certainly an odd name for a full moon. The name comes from the fact that beavers are typically busy little guys building dams for the winter when it rises into the sky.
Skywatchers have something to look forward to late Sunday night into early Monday morning. A penumbral lunar eclipse will happen, but it may be difficult to see in some parts of the country. The eclipse will occur late November 29 into the early morning hours of November 30. NASA says that the face of the moon will gradually darken over more than four hours.
Early Tuesday morning at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China's Hainan province, the China National Space Administration successfully launched its Chang'e 5 mission to the moon. The mission is intended to bring back samples of lunar material from the moon for the first time in 44 years. Chang'e 5 launched atop a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket, the biggest and most powerful launch vehicle China has.
Most samples of moon dust and rocks that are available for scientists to study on Earth date back to the Apollo era, with the last samples being returned from the moon in the 70s. China wants to change that, and this week will launch the Chang'e-5 probe that will collect material from the moon's surface and return it to Earth for study. The mission will test China's ability to pick up samples remotely in preparation for more complicated missions in the future.
The NASA Office of Inspector General has published its 2020 report detailing the challenges the space agency faces and how they may shape the next few years. A total of seven challenges are listed, the first revolving around NASA's ambitious goal to return humans to the Moon in 2024. According to the report, it may not be able to achieve that deadline.
A group of astronomers from the University of Texas at Austin believe that reviving an old NASA plan from a decade ago could solve a problem other telescopes are unable to tackle. The astronomers believe that the massive telescope would be able to study the first stars in the universe. Researchers in the project say that the James Webb Space Telescope will look back to a time when galaxies first formed.
Blue Origin is a space business owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Recently the company shed some light on its plans to deliver cargo to the moon in 2023. The mission would be in support of a possible mission to put astronauts on the moon as early as 2024.
NASA is once again seeking partners for its Artemis program, but this time it isn't interested in sending payloads or developing new exploration technologies. Instead, NASA wants partners who can help tell the story of its return to the Moon, seeking to 'engage, excite, and inspire a worldwide audience.' NASA Administrator Bridenstine said the space agency is looking for content that exceeds its 'standard coverage.'