CHINA'S UNMANNED SPACECRAFT RETURNS TO EARTH

Chang’e 5’s successful lunar landing, sample collection and return to earth, makes China the third nation to bring samples back from the moon, after the US and the former Soviet Union.

- AYUSHEE CHAUDHARY

AFTER SUCCESSFULLY LANDING ON MOON AND COLLECTING samples from the lunar surface, China’s unmanned spacecraft, Chang’e 5 landed back on Earth on December 17, 2020. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) said in a statement that Chang’e 5’s re-entry capsule touched down on its landing site in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The recovery team is making initial processing of the capsule and will then use a plane to transport it to Beijing where it will be opened for technicians to remove the container holding lunar samples.

The successful landing marked the completion of the 23-day expedition of Chang’e 5, the first in more than 40 years, to bring lunar samples back to Earth, also making China the third country to achieve this feat after the United States and the former Soviet Union. The entire unmanned mission has returned with over 4 pounds of rock and soil sample from the surface of the moon.

As next steps, the sealed samples will be transferred to specially designed laboratories for analyses, experiments and tests so scientists can determine the extraterrestrial substances’ composition, structure and traits, thus deepening their knowledge about the history of the moon and the solar system, CNSA noted. It also informed that a certain proportion of the samples will also be on public display to enhance science awareness among the public, especially young generations.