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China’s Chang’e-5 probe is preparing for a soft moon landing to undertake the country’s first collection of samples from an extraterrestrial body.
The spacecraft’s lander-ascender combination separated from its orbiter-returner combination at 4:40 am Monday (Beijing time), according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
Launched on November 24, Chang’e-5 is one of the most complicated and challenging missions in China’s aerospace history, as well as the world’s first lunar champion mission in over 40 years.
The spacecraft is functioning well and communication with ground control is normal, CNSA said.
The lander-ascender combination will perform a soft landing on the moon and perform autosampling. The orbiter-returner will continue to orbit about 200 km above the lunar surface and await the appointment and docking with the elevator.
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