The
return capsule of China's Chang'e-5 probe touched down on Earth in the
early hours of Thursday, bringing back the country's first samples
collected from the moon, as well as the world's freshest lunar samples
in over 40 years.
The spacecraft
landed in Siziwang Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous
Region, at 1:59 a.m. (Beijing Time), according to the China National
Space Administration (CNSA).
Zhang Kejian, head of the CNSA, declared the Chang'e-5 mission a success.
It
marks a successful conclusion of China's current three-step lunar
exploration program of orbiting and landing, and bringing back samples,
which began in 2004.
Under ground
control, the return capsule separated from the orbiter about 5,000 km
above the Atlantic. The capsule entered the Earth's atmosphere at an
altitude of about 120 km and a speed of about 11.2 km per second at 1:33
a.m.
After aerodynamic deceleration,
it skipped out of the atmosphere. Then the capsule re-entered the
atmosphere to perform aerodynamic deceleration a second time. At about
10 km above ground, a parachute opened.
The capsule landed smoothly in the predetermined area, and the search team recovered it.
The
capsule is set to be airlifted to Beijing for opening, and the moon
samples will be delivered to the research team for analysis and study,
said the CNSA.
China will make some
of the samples available to scientists in other countries, Pei Zhaoyu,
deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of
CNSA, has said.
Chang'e-5 is one of
the most complicated and challenging missions in China's aerospace
history. The 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.
This site was chosen because it
had a younger geological age than the sampling areas of the United
States and the Soviet Union more than 40 years ago, and had never been
sampled. The new samples will be of great scientific value, said
researchers.
Though lunar samples
were brought back in U.S. and Soviet missions, scientists need more
samples of different ages to piece together a complete history of the
moon.
Chang'e-5 drilled into the
lunar surface for samples that record evolutionary events, and grabbed
material on the surface. Using modern analytical technologies,
scientists will be able to unravel the mysteries of volcanic activities
and meteorite impacts over the past billion years.
The probe has collected material at different sites to ensure the diversity of the samples.
After
the samples were sealed, the probe's ascender successfully took off
from the moon and docked with the orbiter-returner combination in lunar
orbit.
The samples were transferred
to the returner, before the ascender separated from the
orbiter-returner. To avoid becoming space junk, the ascender made a
controlled descent back to the moon, said the CNSA.
Then the orbiter-returner carried the precious samples home.
Pei
Zhaoyu said the Chang'e-5 mission not only represented an end to
China's current lunar exploration program, but also laid a foundation
for future manned lunar and deep space exploration.
The
milestone mission has accomplished several firsts for China, including
the first moon sampling, the first liftoff from an extraterrestrial
body, the first rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit, and the first
spacecraft carrying samples to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at high
speed.
China is drawing up plans for
future lunar exploration, including constructing a basic version of a
scientific research station, said Pei.
"We
hope to cooperate with other countries to build the international lunar
scientific research station, which could provide a shared platform for
lunar scientific exploration and technological experiments," Pei said.