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China has successfully launched a robotic spacecraft to the moon to return lunar rock samples to earth.
It is a country’s first mission since the 1970s to attempt to recover samples from the lunar surface.
A long March-5 rocket carrying the Chang’e-5 spacecraft took off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the South China Island of Hainan on Tuesday at 4:30 am Beijing time (20:30 GMT on Monday November 23).
The journey to the moon will take about eight days.
The Chang’e-5 mission, named after the ancient Chinese moon goddess, will seek to collect lunar material to help scientists understand more about the moon’s origins and formation.
The mission will test China’s ability to remotely acquire samples from space, before more complex missions.
Spokesman for the Chang’e-5 mission, Pei Zhaoyu, said, “We believe there are two main purposes for the implementation of this lunar sampling mission.
“One is the scientific purpose. We can conduct sampling through circumlunar explorations and moon landing, but it is more intuitive and more direct to obtain samples for scientific research. Also, there will be more tools and more methods to study it on land. this is the scientific aim.
“There is also an engineering purpose. Through the task of sampling and returning, we may have a more complete understanding of relevant lunar exploration technologies.”
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China launches spacecraft to recover moon rocks
If the mission goes as planned, it would make China the only third country to have recovered lunar samples, joining the United States and the Soviet Union.
After entering the orbit of the moon, the spacecraft is intended to deploy a couple of vehicles on the moon’s surface: a lander and a blocker.
The plan calls for the lander to pierce the lunar surface, with a robotic arm digging through land and rocks. This material would be transferred to the blocking vehicle, which would have to carry it off the surface and then dock with an orbiting module.
The samples would then be transferred to a return capsule for the journey to Earth, landing in the Inner Mongolia region of China.
The probe is expected to remain on the lunar surface for about two days, while the entire mission will last about 23 days.
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