Having completed its primary mission on Dec. 16, when it dropped the returner capsule, which houses the lunar samples, to plunge to Earth, China’s Chang’e-5 orbiter is proceeding to its next assignment. Although no space agency official has revealed exactly where the orbiter is headed, Hu Hao, chief designer of the sample return phase of the mission, told CCTV on Dec. 20 the orbiter’s destination is one of the Earth-Sun LaGrange points. According to Sputnik, amateur astronomers say it is likely the spacecraft is headed to the Earth-Sun L1 point, where spacecraft have an unobstructed view of the Sun.
The Chinese space agency has before taken advantage of having a healthy spacecraft with adequate reserve maneuvering fuel already in space, and repurposed it to test something new that will be important for a future mission. After Chang’e- 2 completed its mapping of the Moon, it was sent to the Earth-Sun L2 point, in order to test ground communication to deep space.
