Chinese moon probe begins return to Earth with lunar samples

A Chinese lunar probe lifted off from the moon Thursday night with a cargo of lunar samples on the first stage of its return to Earth, the government space agency reported, on what is expected to be a breakthrough mission for the rising Asian space power.

Chang’e 5, the third Chinese spacecraft to land on the moon and the first to take off from it again, is the latest in a series of increasingly ambitious missions for Beijing’s space program, which also has a spacecraft en route to Mars carrying a robot rover.

The Chang’e 5 touched down Tuesday on the Sea of Storms on the moon’s near side, on a mission to return lunar rocks to Earth for the first time since 1976.

That next stage is an extremely challenging rendezvousing and docking between the small ascent vehicle and the Chang'e 5 orbiter while orbiting the moon.

If all goes well, China will then prepare for the final leg of the journey to deliver the first lunar samples to Earth in 44 years.

Source: https://www.space.com/china-chang-e-5-moon-lander-launches-from-lunar-surface

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/science/china-moon-mission.html

Source: https://apnews.com/article/science-beijing-moon-mars-55a59132f19016e59cbd96ca26fe83b9

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