China’s Chang’e-5 lunar probe successfully supplies moon samples to Earth

by

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Beijing time, the country’s unmanned Chang’e-5 mission returned to Earth with the country’s first moon samples, according to Chinese media outlet Xinhua.

The samples are also the first collected by any country since the 1970s.

The returning capsule landed in Siziwang Banner, located in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, just before 2 a.m. Thursday, Beijing time (1 p.m. ET Wednesday), according to the Space Administration. National Bank of China (CNSA).

The spacecraft, named after the ancient Chinese goddess of the Moon, first left the Wenchang spacecraft launch site in Hainan on November 24th.

A long March 5 rocket carrying China's Chang'e-5 lunar probe is launched from Wenchang Space Center on November 24.

China’s achievements follow the United States and the Soviet Union, which collected lunar samples decades ago.

In the Apollo program, which first put men on the moon, the United States landed 12 astronauts on six flights from 1969 to 1972, recovering 382 kg (842 pounds) of rocks and soil.

The Soviet Union deployed three successful robotized sample return missions in the 1970s. The last, the Luna 24, recovered 170.1 grams (6 ounces) of samples in 1976 from Mare Crisium, or “Sea of ​​Crisis.”

.Source

Leave a Comment