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23 Nov, 18 tweets, 5 min read
Liftoff! Chang'e-5 heads to space atop the fifth Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket
Booster separation
Payload fairing jettisoned
First stage separation
Failure of a turbopump on one of the two YF-77 engines on the first stage saw the loss of a Long March 5 in 2017. That delayed this mission three years, until now.
Shutdown of second stage engine. Coasting phase. Nice view of Earth.
Second burn of the second stage. Attempting trans-lunar injection.
Cool image of the Chang'e-5 spacecraft and the Earth in the background
Separation of Chang'e-5 from the second stage!
Waiting for solar array deployment
Chang'e-5 solar arrays deployed!
Cool timelapse of the launch (OurSpace)
weibo.com/u/6528178851?i…
Another view of the scene (OurSpace) weibo.com/u/6528178851?i…
Lander's solar arrays deployed
Success. Chang'e-5 successfully in predetermined orbit
An image of the Chang'e-5 stack, now that launch was a success (CAST).
Oh! Cheeky shot of the return capsule
Savouring the moment

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More from @AJ_FI

Andrew Jones Profile picture
23 Nov
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.
Read 19 tweets
Andrew Jones Profile picture
23 Nov
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)
Read 4 tweets
Andrew Jones Profile picture
1 Oct
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.
Read 4 tweets
Andrew Jones Profile picture
18 Sep
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 Image
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.
It is also possibly tumbling, according to data received by another radio tracker.
Read 5 tweets
Andrew Jones Profile picture
16 Sep
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
Read 4 tweets
Andrew Jones Profile picture
8 Sep
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… Image
Some independent verification of the lander's regular activities:
Article on the subsurface of Mare Imbrium using data from the ground-penetrating radar global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202009/10/WS…
Read 4 tweets

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