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China-Chang'e-5/Orbiter/Extended Mission
FILE: Wenchang City, Hainan Province, south China - Nov 24, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Long March-5 rocket, carrying Chang'e-5 spacecraft, blasting off from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site
2. Various of rocket flying in sky
FILE: China - Exact Date and Location Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Various of animation showing Chang'e-5 spacecraft flying
Beijing, China - Jan 18, 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Sheng Ruiqing, deputy chief designer, Chang'e-5 probe (starting with shot 3/partially overlaid with shots 5-6/ending with shots 7-8):
"We had to decide what operation the orbiter should carry out before it separated from the returner and before the latter returned to Earth. Because it had much propellant left, so it was able to make some contributions to the follow-up deep space exploration. Then we decided to let it fly to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point coded L1 for an orbiting detection. There should be over 100 kilograms of propellant left on the orbiter, which should be enough for it to fly to L1. We will evaluate the next phase of the mission based on the orbiter's status at L1 in subsequent steps."
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
5. Various of scientists working
FILE: China - Exact Date and Location Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Animation showing Lagrange points L1, L2, L3, L4
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
7. Various of animation showing Lagrange point L1
8. Various of animation showing moving sun, moon, other planets
The orbiter of China's Chang'e-5 has started an extended mission to further explore the deep space, said a space scientist on Monday.
The orbiter did not return with the the lunar probe's return capsule, which touched down on Earth on Dec 17, 2020, marking a successful conclusion of China's current three-step lunar exploration program.
The very high precision in both launching orbit and orbit control of the Chang'e-5 probe saved a lot of correction processes of the orbiter and much of the propellant used, said Sheng Ruiqing, deputy chief designer of the Chang'e-5 probe in an interview with the China Media Group (CMG).
"We had to decide what operation the orbiter should carry out before it separated from the returner and before the latter returned to Earth. Because it had much propellant left, so it was able to make some contributions to the follow-up deep space exploration. Then we decided to let it fly to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point coded L1 for an orbiting detection. There should be over 100 kilograms of propellant left on the orbiter, which should be enough for it to fly to L1. We will evaluate the next phase of the mission based on the orbiter's status at L1 in subsequent steps," said Sheng.
L1 is a lagrangian point located at the line between Earth and the Sun. It is about 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth and is considered the best position to place a solar observatory.
This position will never be blocked by the Earth or the Moon, so the Chang'e-5 orbiter will be able to continuously observe the sun or the sunward side of the Earth.
China-Chang'e-5/Orbiter/Extended Mission
Dateline : Jan 18, 2021/File
Location : China
Duration : 1'34
FILE: Wenchang City, Hainan Province, south China - Nov 24, 2020 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Long March-5 rocket, carrying Chang'e-5 spacecraft, blasting off from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site
2. Various of rocket flying in sky
FILE: China - Exact Date and Location Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
3. Various of animation showing Chang'e-5 spacecraft flying
Beijing, China - Jan 18, 2021 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Sheng Ruiqing, deputy chief designer, Chang'e-5 probe (starting with shot 3/partially overlaid with shots 5-6/ending with shots 7-8):
"We had to decide what operation the orbiter should carry out before it separated from the returner and before the latter returned to Earth. Because it had much propellant left, so it was able to make some contributions to the follow-up deep space exploration. Then we decided to let it fly to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point coded L1 for an orbiting detection. There should be over 100 kilograms of propellant left on the orbiter, which should be enough for it to fly to L1. We will evaluate the next phase of the mission based on the orbiter's status at L1 in subsequent steps."
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
5. Various of scientists working
FILE: China - Exact Date and Location Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
6. Animation showing Lagrange points L1, L2, L3, L4
++SHOTS OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++
7. Various of animation showing Lagrange point L1
8. Various of animation showing moving sun, moon, other planets
The orbiter of China's Chang'e-5 has started an extended mission to further explore the deep space, said a space scientist on Monday.
The orbiter did not return with the the lunar probe's return capsule, which touched down on Earth on Dec 17, 2020, marking a successful conclusion of China's current three-step lunar exploration program.
The very high precision in both launching orbit and orbit control of the Chang'e-5 probe saved a lot of correction processes of the orbiter and much of the propellant used, said Sheng Ruiqing, deputy chief designer of the Chang'e-5 probe in an interview with the China Media Group (CMG).
"We had to decide what operation the orbiter should carry out before it separated from the returner and before the latter returned to Earth. Because it had much propellant left, so it was able to make some contributions to the follow-up deep space exploration. Then we decided to let it fly to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point coded L1 for an orbiting detection. There should be over 100 kilograms of propellant left on the orbiter, which should be enough for it to fly to L1. We will evaluate the next phase of the mission based on the orbiter's status at L1 in subsequent steps," said Sheng.
L1 is a lagrangian point located at the line between Earth and the Sun. It is about 1.5 million kilometers away from Earth and is considered the best position to place a solar observatory.
This position will never be blocked by the Earth or the Moon, so the Chang'e-5 orbiter will be able to continuously observe the sun or the sunward side of the Earth.
ID : 8174225
Published : 2021-01-19 17:32
Last Modified : 2021-01-19 21:52:00
Source : China Central Television (CCTV)
Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland
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