China quietly launched its Chang’e 5 spacecraft to the moon last week. The probe has now entered lunar orbit, preparing to touch down on the moon’s surface in on Tuesday. In the past few days, China has been preparing its probe to descend to the surface with a series of orbital maneuvers.
At approximately 4:48 a.m. PT on Saturday, the probe performed a 17-minute burn of its main engine to slow down enough to be captured by the moon’s gravity, according to the China Lunar Exploration Project. At 12:40 p.m. PT on Sunday, the lander and its ascent vehicle separated from the module in orbit around the moon. Read more…
