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China's Chang'e 5 lands on the moon to collect the 1st fresh lunar samples in decades

Link: https://www.space.com/china-chang-e-5-lands-on-moon-to-collect-lunar-samples

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Home News Spaceflight. China's Chang'e 5 lands on the moon to collect the 1st fresh lunar samples in decades

Chang'e 5 is the first lunar sample-return mission since 1976.

Chang'e 5 touched down on the moon at 10:11 a.m. EST (1511GMT, 11:11 p.m. Beijing Time) near Mons Rümker, a mountain in the Ocean of Storms (or Oceanus Procellarum), CNSA officials said. The probe deployed its solar array and antenna soon after to begin its work on the moon.

Two pieces of the four-module, 18,100-lb. (8,200 kilograms) Chang'e 5 mission hit the gray dirt today — a stationary lander and an ascent vehicle. If all goes according to plan, the lander will spend the next few days collecting about 4.4 lbs. (2 kg) of lunar material, some of it dug from up to 6.5 feet (2 meters) beneath the lunar surface.

Chang'e 5 isn't the only sample-return game in town. Japan's Hayabusa2 mission is scheduled to deliver pieces of the asteroid Ryugu to Earth on Dec. 5, and NASA's OSIRIS-REx probe collected samples of the space rock Bennu in late October. The Bennu samples are scheduled to come home in September 2023.

SpaceX's Texas launch site undergoing FAA environmental review for Starship flights

Link: https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-texas-site-faa-environmental-review

SpaceX's new Texas launch site will undergo an environmental review to prepare for the first flights of the company's new Starship spacecraft.

The private spaceflight company owns a launch site in South Texas, near the village of Boca Chica, where Starship prototypes are currently being built and tested. The Starship spacecraft is SpaceX's next-gen transportation system designed to take people to and from the moon, Mars and beyond.

On Nov. 23, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that SpaceX plans to apply for licenses for suborbital and orbital launches of Starship. The FAA will conduct an environmental review of the site before SpaceX can launch its new spacecraft, which is powered by the Super Heavy rocket.

"The proposed update to Starship/Super Heavy operations falls outside of the scope of the existing final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Record of Decision for the launch site and requires additional environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)," the FAA said in a statement.

The NEPA helps ensure that environmental impacts are assessed during the launch licensing process. In order to receive the appropriate licenses for suborbital and orbital launches, SpaceX must follow environmental and safety regulations. In addition, the company must develop agreements for the license application, according to the statement.

India to launch Shukrayaan Venus mission in 2024 after pandemic delays: reports

Link: https://www.space.com/india-venus-orbiter-shukrayaan-2024-launch

India plans to launch a new orbiter to Venus in 2024, a year later than planned, according to media reports.

The Shukrayaan orbiter will be the first mission to Venus by the India Space Research Organization (ISRO) and will study the planet for four years, according to SpaceNews, which cited a presentation by an ISRO research scientist at a NASA-chartered committee Nov. 10.

It will be India's first mission to Venus.

The Shukrayaan orbiter will be the first mission to Venus by the India Space Research Organization (ISRO) and will study the...