China’s Chang’e-5, which is an integral part of the country’s lunar sample return mission has just changed its course and is returning to the Moon. After carrying the Moon rock samples to Earth, the orbiter shipped back towards a Lagrange point where the Earth’s and Sun’s gravitational forces are equal but opposite.
But after spending around six months at Lagrange point, the spacecraft is now coming back to the Moon, reports SpaceNews. There are many possible explanations for the return, but without any official statement from the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center, the orbiter is currently the subject of assumptions.
Is the orbiter running out of fuel?
The most surprising part about the orbiter’s sudden return from deep space mission could be running out of fuel, as per ScienceNews.
“I don’t think there will be many opportunities for the orbiter to perform more complex orbit maneuvers with other bodies,” said Jing Peng, Chang’e-5 spacecraft system chief designer, according to Space.com. “I think it will stay in [the Lagrange point] or the Earth-moon system.”
With those restrictions in mind, SpaceNews speculates that the Chang’e-5 might also use lunar flyby to embark on a new course toward 49219 Kamo’oalewa, an asteroid close to Earth that China plans to study during a 2024 asteroid sample return mission. That said, all speculations will be put to rest only when there’s an official word from Chinese authorities.
China’s growing space ambitions
Besides, China is also said to working on the development of an “ultra-large spacecraft” that would be so huge that it would be miles across. The project could take years in the making, but the National Natural Science Foundation of China is recruiting scientists to find a way to construct such a massive spacecraft.
Building such a massive spacecraft is “major strategic aerospace equipment for the future use of space resources, exploration of the mysteries of the universe and staying in long-term orbit,” an outline of the project by the foundation reads. Moreover, China has joined Russia to announce a joint space venture. Both countries are collaborating to build an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).
