China successfully lands spacecraft on moon to retrieve moon rocks
China successfully landed a spacecraft on the moon’s surface on Tuesday as part of a landmark mission to recover lunar surface samples, Chinese state media reported.
China launched its Chang’e-5 probe on November 24. The unmanned mission, named after the mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, aims to collect lunar material to help scientists learn more about the origins of the moon.
The mission will attempt to collect 2 kg (4-1 / 2 lbs) of samples from an area not previously visited in a huge lava plain known as Oceanus Procellarum, or “Ocean of Storms”.
If the mission goes as planned, it would make China the third country to have collected lunar samples after the United States and the Soviet Union.
The landing vehicle that landed on the moon’s surface was one of many spacecraft deployed by the Chang’e-5 probe.
Upon landing, the landing vehicle is supposed to drill into the ground with a robotic arm, then transfer its soil and rock samples to an ascender vehicle that would lift and dock with a module in orbit.
State broadcaster CCTV said it would start collecting samples from the lunar surface within the next two days. The samples would be transferred to a return capsule for the return trip to Earth, landing in the Inner Mongolia region of China.
China made its first lunar landing in 2013. In January of last year, the Chang’e-4 probe landed on the other side of the Moon, the first space probe of any country to do it.
