China - Earth, Moon photo taken by Chang-e 5T1 lunar orbiter

Post date: Nov 20, 2014 11:32:39 PM

China's Chang-e 5 Test1 was the world's first mission to the Moon and back in some 40 years, with China becoming the third nation to do so after the Soviet Union and the United States.

Launched on the 24 Oct 2014, the Robotic Chang-e 5T1 orbiter traversed 840,000 km in eight days in a mission that saw it go around the far side of the Moon and land safely back on Earth

The mission obtained data and validated the re-entry technology such as the heat shield and trajectory design for a future landing on the Moon as part of the Chang'e-5 mission, expected to be launched around 2017 to collect lunar samples and return to Earth.

One of the biggest challenges was a "bounce" during the orbiter's re-entry as it made its way home to help it slow down, the craft is designed to "bounce" off the edge of the atmosphere before re-entering again. The process has been compared to a stone skipping across water, and can shorten the "braking distance" for the orbiter that had to enter the atmosphere at a very precise angle withinn 0.2 degrees.

Earth and the moon by Chang-e 5T1

This photo was taken by the service module at a point 540,000 km from Earth and 920,000 km from the Moon