Chang'e-5 coverage: possible link to possible live(ish) coverage from CCTV. Currently looks like launch will be around 20:25-21:15 UTC/3:25-4:15 p.m. ET today, but that's not official. app.cctv.com/special/cporta…
CCTV now broadcasting. Here's a Youtube stream version:
Chang'e-5 (China Space News)
Fuelling of the Long March 5 with liquid hydrogen & liquid oxygen began at 10:30 UTC, according to the China Lunar Exploration Project. CLEP also confirms launch to take place b/w 20-21:00 UTC (3-4 pm ET/04-05:00 local Nov. 24). So around 9 hours to go.
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China's complex Chang'e-5 lunar sample return mission is set to launch between 20:00-21:00 UTC (3-4 pm ET (04-05:00 am local tomorrow). It will seek to return the first lunar samples since the 1970s. Thread on the launch, spacecraft, science and more.
First, launch coverage is ongoing here, in Chinese:
Alternatives and updates likely to be posted by @Nextlaunch
The rocket for the launch is China's largest (57m, 860 tonnes), the Long March 5, which was designed with the Chang'e-5 mission in mind. The failure of its 2nd launch in July 2017 delayed CE-5 by 3 years. But now it's on the pad.
Here's an image of Tianwen-1 in deep space and on its way to Mars, released today [CLEP]. The spacecraft is currently 24.1 million km from the Earth with a total flight distance of 188 million km. Source: mp.weixin.qq.com/s?__biz=MzA3OT…
One more image:
This was a one-shot deal, with a small instrument carrying two wide-angle lenses released from Tianwen-1. After release it took one image every second, transmitted to TW-1 via wifi. Farewell, expensive deep space camera.
The object (2020-063G; 46395) released by China's reusable experimental spacecraft/possible spaceplane before it deorbited remains in a 331 x 347 km orbit incl. by 50.21°. Little known, but a few clues. n2yo.com/?s=46395&live=1
It is known to be transmitting, meaning it's a satellite with some purpose. It may be that it is simply a test of the reusable experimental spacecraft to successfully release payloads in orbit.
From a 2014 Chinese space exploration roadmap: "In the term of Venus exploration, the planed missions aim at detecting the atmosphere, ionosphere
& magnetosphere; doing researches on the composition & structure of the atmosphere, lightning
& airglow, the greenhouse effect...1/4
...atmospheric circulation, such as the formation mechanism & the overall evolution; studying interactions of the atmosphere, the ionosphere with the solar wind, exploring the mechanism of water escape; detecting the topography, geological structure & surface compositions... 2/4
...researching the geological forces and evolution and
transformation of the surface of Venus; detecting the
Venus gravity field and magnetic field, exploring the
internal structure of Venus." 3/4
After nearly seven years (2,460 days) on the Moon, the Chang'e-3 lander (and one payload) is—very impressively— still working [image: CNSA/CLEP]. news.cctv.com/2020/09/02/ART…
Some independent verification of the lander's regular activities: