China successfully landed a spacecraft on the moon's surface on Tuesday in a historic mission to retrieve lunar surface samples.
Hisana Thasneem
credits: Wikipedia
China: China successfully landed a spacecraft on the moon's surface on Tuesday in a historic mission to retrieve lunar surface samples. The 8.2-tonne Chang'e-5 spacecraft 'stack' was launched from the Wenchang spaceport in southern China on 24 November (local time). It arrived above the Moon at the weekend and then set about circularising its orbit before splitting in two. This uncrewed mission, named after the mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, aims to collect lunar material to help scientists learn more about the moon's origins.
The mission will attempt to collect 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of samples in a previously unvisited area in a massive lava plain known as Oceanus Procellarum or 'Ocean of Storms'. If the mission is completed as planned, it would make China the third nation to have retrieved lunar samples after the United States and the Soviet Union.
The lander vehicle that touched down on the moon's surface was one of several spacecraft deployed by the Chang’e-5 probe.
Upon landing, the lander 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 off and dock with an orbiting module. As per the reports it would start collecting samples on the lunar surface in the next two days. The samples would be transferred to a return capsule for the trip back to Earth, landing in China's Inner Mongolia region.
China made its first lunar landing in 2013. In January last year, the Chang'e-4 probe touched down on the far side of the moon, the first space probe from any nation to do so.
Unlike the launch of the mission a week ago, the landing was not covered live by Chinese TV channels.
Only after the touchdown was confirmed did they break into their programming to relay the news. Images taken on the descent were quickly released with the final frame showing one of the probe's legs casting a shadow on to the dusty lunar surface.
The US space agency congratulated China. Nasa's top science official, Dr Thomas Zurbuchen, said he hoped the international research community would eventually get the chance to analyse any samples sent home.