The chief purpose of the test flight was to demonstrate technologies and techniques for China’s robotic Chang’e 5 mission set for launch in 2017. Chang’e 5 will land on the moon, collect 2 kilograms — about 4.4 pounds — of subsurface lunar samples, and return the material to Earth.
Traveling at approximately 25,000 mph, the entry vehicle lowered into the atmosphere twice, bouncing back into space and skipping like a rock across water before parachuting to a touchdown in China’s northern region of Inner Mongolia about 300 miles from Beijing. Such skip re-entry maneuvers can diminish the speed and reduce the heat encountered by a spacecraft streaking back to Earth.