Chinese spacecraft takes off from moon with samples
Pub Date:2020-12-04 08:45 Source:Xinhua
A
Chinese spacecraft carrying the country's first lunar samples blasted
off from the moon late Thursday, the China National Space Administration
announced.
This represented the first-ever Chinese spacecraft to take off from an extraterrestrial body.
China's
Chang'e-5 probe, comprising an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a
returner, was launched on Nov. 24, and its lander-ascender combination
touched down on the north of the Mons Rumker in Oceanus Procellarum,
also known as the Ocean of Storms, on the near side of the moon on Dec.
1.
After the samples were collected
and sealed, the ascender of Chang'e-5 took off from the lunar surface,
and is expected to complete unmanned rendezvous and docking with the
orbiter-returner in lunar orbit, an unprecedented feat.
Chang'e-5
is one of the most complicated and challenging missions in Chinese
aerospace history, as well as the world's first moon-sample mission in
more than 40 years.