China is on its way to join the elite club of nations with the
capability to bring back samples from outer space to Earth
Taking a lead in
the newly commenced Moon race, China
on Wednesday successfully landed its Chang'e-5 mission on the lunar surface to
retrieve samples to be brought back to Earth. The second probe to be landed on
the surface aims to collect rock samples and dust for further studies.
Chang'e-5 will
collect samples for about two days in a region to the north of Mons Ruemker, a
mountain overlooking a vast lunar mare called the Ocean of Storms. According to
the Chinese National Space Administration, the probe will bring about 2
kilograms of lunar samples back to Earth in mid-December. Once completed it
will be the first such sample to be brought to the planet, 44 years after the
last substances from the moon were returned to Earth.
China had launched
the Chang'e-5
spacecraft on November 24 onboard Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket
from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province, comprising an
orbiter, a lander, an ascender, and a re-entry capsule.
According to the
space agency before landing, Chang'e-5 separated into two parts: the
orbiter-reentry capsule combination and the lander-ascender combination.
"While the lander-ascender has started surface operations, the
orbiter-reentry capsule is in lunar orbit at an average altitude of about 200
km above the moon," the administration added.
"For the
space program of China, this event is undoubtedly historic," Deputy
Director-General of Roscosmos Sergei Savelyev said in a statement adding,
"The study of the natural satellite of the Earth is currently one of the
priority areas of space activities in all countries, and Russia and China
regularly discuss the development of cooperation between our countries in this
area."
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