Photos: China’s Chang’e-5 Moon Probe Sends Back Samples, Stunning Images From Surface

The Chang’e-5 spacecraft has accomplished a number of firsts for Beijing, including the first extraterrestrial takeoff and first independent placement of a Chinese flag on an extraterrestrial body. When its samples return to Earth, they’ll be the first brought back from the moon in 44 years.

China’s Chang’e-5 lunar probe has finished its primary mission of collecting moon samples and the sampling capsule is on its way back to Earth. While the ancient rocks and dust won’t arrive for two weeks, stunning photos from the lunar surface have already been received.

The successful sample launch is the first time a Chinese spacecraft has taken off from an extraterrestrial body. In another first, Chang’e-5 deployed a Chinese flag from a Chinese craft on an extraterrestrial body for the first time.

Photos: China’s Chang’e-5 Moon Probe Sends Back Samples, Stunning Images From Surface

A panoramic shot of Mons Rümker in Oceanus Procellarum, on the near side of the moon, by the Chinese Chang’e-5 spacecraft shortly after landing

Photos: China’s Chang’e-5 Moon Probe Sends Back Samples, Stunning Images From Surface

Detail from a panoramic shot of Mons Rümker in Oceanus Procellarum, taken by the Chang’e-5 lunar lander

Photos: China’s Chang’e-5 Moon Probe Sends Back Samples, Stunning Images From Surface

The return capsule carrying 2 kilograms of moon samples blasts off from China’s Chang’e-5 lunar lander. The capsule will rendezvous with an unmanned orbiter and return the samples to Earth.

Photos: China’s Chang’e-5 Moon Probe Sends Back Samples, Stunning Images From Surface

A China National Space Administration graphic showing blast-off of the sampling capsule from the Chang’e-5 lunar lander from the moon’s Oceanus Procellarum.

The lander touched down on the lunar surface just two days ago on a spot north of Mons Rümker in Oceanus Procellarum, on the northwestern corner of the side of the moon that always faces the Earth. The location was chosen because its volcanic plain is relatively young compared to past sampling sites, at 1.2 billion years old.

To take its 2 kilograms of samples, the probe used regolith penetrating radar to select a spot, then deployed unique drills to penetrate the surface and collect the sample. Other items on the surface were collected using a robotic grabber arm.

Photos: China’s Chang’e-5 Moon Probe Sends Back Samples, Stunning Images From Surface

China’s Chang’e-5 probe collecting samples from the lunar surface

The Chang’e-5 mission began with a blast-off from Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Center on Hainan Island on November 23, and the lander made a soft touch-down on the moon’s surface on December 1. 

However, Chang’e-5 isn’t alone on the moon: two other Chinese landers are also there. The Chang’e-3 rover, which landed in 2013, was China’s first to touch the lunar surface and its battery died after nearly three years of operation. However, Chang’e-4, which plopped down on the far side of the moon in January 2019 – another first for both China and humanity – is still in operation.

Sourse: sputniknews.com

Photos: China’s Chang’e-5 Moon Probe Sends Back Samples, Stunning Images From Surface

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