"嫦娥五号"将于年底发射
Lunar mission due by year's end Chang'e 5, the next mission in China's lunar exploration program, will demonstrate and test the country's technological and engineering capabilities in space, according to a key figure in the project. Yu Dengyun, deputy chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, said on Sunday that Chang'e 5 will be launched by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in South China’s Hainan province by the end of 2020. China's current lunar program involves three phases: Orbiting, landing, and return. The first two phases have been completed successfully, Yu said. The Chang'e-5 probe is expected to realize lunar sample collection, takeoff from the moon, rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit and high-speed reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, marking breakthroughs in China's aerospace history, Yu said. According to Yu, China is conducting a further verification study for the research and development of a space station and manned lunar mission, and it plans to set up an unmanned lunar research station for manned landings on the moon. |