14 DAY TRIAL // Officials with the Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) say that they plan to conduct a sample-return mission on the surface of the Moon as early as 2017. This lander and sample-return capsule will be launched following the deployment of the Chang'e-4 lunar lander, scheduled for 2015.
Chang'e-4 is itself the successor of the Chang'e-3 mission, which landed on the surface of Earth's natural satellite less than two weeks ago, on December 14. The spacecraft also carried with it the Yutu rover, a six-wheeled robot that has already been deployed to conduct scientific investigations.
During a conference held on December 16, Chinese officials announced that the development of the Chang'e-5 sample-return mission is progressing smoothly, and added that the spacecraft will most likely to ready for its planned launch in 2017, Space reports.
The most important aspect of such a mission that CNSA has yet to address is the tremendously-high reentry speed of a prospective spacecraft returning from the Moon. No Chinese spacecraft has ever reentered Earth's atmosphere at a speed of 40,230 kilometers (25,000 miles) per hour before. Tests to develop this technology are already underway in the Gobi desert.