30 important time points you must know to help you understand China's lunar exploration project!

15 years ago today, the first satellite of China's lunar exploration project, Chang'e-1, was successfully captured by the moon's gravity. At this moment, we finally realized the Chinese myth of "Chang'e flying to the moon". At present, China's lunar exploration project has successfully completed the first three phases of unmanned lunar exploration, "orbiting", "landing" and "returning", and has officially launched the fourth phase of unmanned lunar exploration this year.

On the occasion of the 15th anniversary, let us review the historic moment of the first unmanned lunar exploration of China's lunar exploration project.

01

Unmanned lunar exploration

Phase 1: Winding

In 2004, the first phase of unmanned lunar exploration was launched. China launched a lunar orbiter/hard lander to orbit the moon at an altitude of 2,000 kilometers above the lunar surface to conduct global lunar exploration.

1

October 24, 2007

Chang'e-1 was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

Chang'e-1 was launched into space. Image source: Xinhua News Agency

2

November 5, 2007

Chang'e-1, the first satellite of China's lunar exploration project, carried out its first near-moon braking and was successfully captured by the moon's gravity.

3

November 7, 2007

The Chang'e-1 satellite accurately entered the lunar orbit and began to carry out its established scientific mission.

4

November 20, 2007

The first orbit of lunar images taken by the CCD stereo camera on board Chang'e-1 began to be transmitted back.

5

November 26, 2007

The China National Space Administration officially released the first processed image of the lunar surface transmitted back by the Chang'e-1 satellite.

Image source: Lunar and Planetary Data Release System

6

November 12, 2008

The "first Chinese orthophoto of the entire moon" produced using data from Chang'e-1 was released. It was the most complete lunar image ever published in the world at that time.

Image source: Lunar and Planetary Data Release System

Image source: Lunar and Planetary Data Release System

Image source: Lunar and Planetary Data Release System

7

March 1, 2009 at 16:13

Chang'e-1 crashed into the Mare Fecundum region of the moon, leaving Chinese traces on the moon. Chang'e-1 used its last "life" to contribute to the exploration of the composition of lunar materials and the accumulation of technology for future soft landings on the moon.

8

October 1, 2010

Chang'e-2 was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. Chang'e-2 is the pilot satellite for the second step of unmanned lunar exploration, mainly used to test and verify some new technologies and equipment, and reduce the risks of subsequent lunar and deep space exploration.

Chang'e 2 was launched into space. Image source: Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Li Gang)

Image source: Lunar and Planetary Data Release System

9

April 1, 2011

The six-month design life of Chang'e-2 has expired, and the six established engineering goals and four major scientific exploration missions have been successfully completed.

10

June 9, 2011

Chang'e-2 left the moon and arrived at the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L2, about 1.5 million kilometers away from the earth, at 23:27 on August 25, to conduct solar exploration and test measurement and control technology. After successfully reaching the L2 point, Chang'e-2 broke the record of China's space measurement and control distance, and became the world's first spacecraft to travel directly from the moon to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point.

11

April 15, 2012

Chang'e-2 left the Earth-Sun Lagrange L2 point and headed for an exploration of asteroid 4179, which is in danger of impacting the Earth. On December 13 of the same year, it passed by asteroid 4179 in deep space about 7 million kilometers away from Earth and took a picture of it.

Optical image of Toutatis from Chang'e-2 flyby. Image source: Huang, JC et al. The Ginger-shaped Asteroid 4179 Toutatis: New observations from a successful flyby of Chang'e-2. Scientific Reports 3, 3411 (2013).

After completing all its missions, Chang'e-2 flew 100 million kilometers away and became an artificial satellite in the solar system, flying around the sun in an elliptical orbit.

02

Unmanned lunar exploration

Phase 2: Fall

In 2013, the second phase of the unmanned lunar exploration, “landing”, was launched. Chang’e-3 (carrying the soft lander and rover “Yutu”) and Chang’e-4 (carrying the soft lander and rover “Yutu-2”) were launched to conduct automatic patrol surveys of the moon, detecting the topography, geological structure, chemical and mineral composition of rocks and the environment of the lunar surface in the landing area. At the same time, Chang’e-4 will land on the far side of the moon to unveil the mystery of the far side of the moon.

12

December 2, 2013

The Chang'e 3 was launched on a Long March 3B carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

Chang'e 3 was launched into space. Image source: Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Li Gang)

13

December 6, 2013

The Chang'e-3 satellite arrived in lunar orbit, starting the second "landing" phase of the Chang'e-3 project.

14

December 14, 2013

The Chang'e-3 lander carrying China's first lunar rover, the Yutu rover, successfully soft-landed in the northwest of the Moon's Sea of ​​Rains (the "Rainbow Bay landing area") and took pictures of the landing.

Chang'e 3 lands on the lunar surface. Video source: Lunar and Planetary Data Release System

15

December 15, 2013

The Chang'e-3 lander and Yutu successfully separated, and the lander and Yutu took their first photos of each other on the moon.

Yutu (left) and Chang'e 3 lander (right) take photos of each other. Image source: Lunar and Planetary Data Release System

16

July 31, 2016

It has been confirmed by the ground center that the Yutu lunar rover stopped working and exceeded its mission, working for a total of 972 days, far exceeding the expected three months.

17

May 21, 2018

The Queqiao relay satellite was launched into space. The Queqiao relay satellite is the world's first communication satellite operating at the Earth-Moon Lagrange L2 point, and undertakes the communication relay mission between the Earth and the subsequent Chang'e 4.

18

December 8, 2018

The Chang'e-4 lunar probe was successfully launched. After a long flight of about 380,000 kilometers and 26 days, China's Chang'e-4 probe autonomously landed on the back of the moon, achieving the first soft landing of a human probe on the back of the moon.

Chang'e 4 was launched into space. Image source: Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Jiang Hongjing)

19

January 3, 2019 10:26

The Chang'e-4 probe successfully landed in the Von Karman crater on the back of the moon.

Chang'e-4 lands on the lunar surface. Video source: Lunar and Planetary Data Release System

20

January 3, 2019 15:07

The Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center sent a command to separate the lander and rover (Yutu-2) to Chang'e-4 through the Queqiao relay satellite. After unlocking and separating, the lunar rover Yutu-2 stepped onto the lunar surface at 22:22.

Yutu-2 lunar rover, Image source: Lunar and Planetary Data Release System

twenty one

January 11, 2019

The Yutu-2 lunar rover and Chang'e-4 lander successfully completed mutual photography with the support of the Queqiao relay satellite, and the Chang'e-4 mission was successfully completed. The Yutu-2 lunar rover will continue to carry out in-situ exploration and lunar surface patrol exploration. As of July 6, 2022, Yutu-2 has traveled a total of 1,239.88 meters on the back of the moon.

03

Unmanned lunar exploration

The third stage: return

In 2019, the third phase of unmanned lunar exploration will be the "return" mission. This mission will launch a lunar automatic sample returner to land on the lunar surface to collect lunar soil and rock samples, and use the returner to bring the lunar samples back to Earth for related research.

twenty two

October 24, 2014

The reentry flight test vehicle "Chang'e 5T" was launched into space to explore the way for Chang'e 5. "Chang'e 5T" is a pathfinder satellite used for technical engineering tests before the launch of Chang'e 5. It is mainly responsible for the practical verification of the high-speed return to Earth technology of the third phase of the lunar exploration project.

twenty three

Early morning of November 1, 2014

The reentry test vehicle "Chang'e 5T", which was used to explore the way for Chang'e 5, landed safely according to the established plan. In the third phase of the lunar exploration project, the return vehicle that ultimately carries the samples back to Earth is crucial to the success of the mission. Previously, no Chinese spacecraft outside the Earth's orbit had completed the experience of reentering the atmosphere, returning, landing, and recovering.

twenty four

November 24, 2020 4:30 am

Chang'e 5 was launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in China.

Chang'e 5 was launched into space. Image source: Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Jin Liwang)

25

December 1, 2020

Chang'e-5 successfully landed in the area north of the Rumker Mountains in the Ocean of Storms on the front side of the moon, and began two days of lunar surface work to collect lunar samples.

Chang'e 5 photographed by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Image credit: NASA

26

December 3, 2020

The Chang'e-5 ascender flew away from the lunar surface, marking the first time that China has achieved takeoff from an extraterrestrial body.

27

December 6, 2020

The Chang'e-5 ascender rendezvoused and docked with the orbiter and returner combination, and successfully transferred the sample container to the returner.

28

December 6, 2020 12:35

The Chang'e-5 orbiter and returner combination separated from the ascender and entered a waiting phase in orbit around the moon, preparing to return to Earth at an appropriate time.

29

December 12, 2020 9:54

The Chang'e-5 orbiter and returner combination waited in orbit around the moon for about six days and carried out its first lunar-to-Earth transfer injection, changing from a near-circular orbit to an elliptical orbit with a perigee altitude of about 200 kilometers.

30

December 17, 2020

The Chang'e-5 returner successfully returned to Earth with 1,731 grams of lunar samples. my country became the third country to achieve lunar sample return.

Photos of the Chang'e-5 lunar sample handover site. Image source: Lunar and Planetary Data Release System

Chang'e 5 lunar samples, image source: China Lunar Exploration and Deep Space Exploration Network

At present, my country has completed the three phases of unmanned lunar exploration: orbiting, landing, and returning. In the subsequent fourth phase, Chang'e 6, Chang'e 7, and Chang'e 8 will be sent to conduct more comprehensive exploration of the lunar topography, material composition, and space environment. In the future, manned lunar landings and long-term lunar residence, as well as the establishment of lunar scientific research stations, lunar bases, and lunar villages will all be the directions we explore.

Author | Science Popularization China New Media