The rocks and dust from the moon had been previously been delivered from Chang’e 5’s ascender to its reentry capsule. It represents the first mission since 1976 – the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 mission – to bring lunar samples down to Earth.
The Chang’e 5 400-kilogram ascender docked with the 2.3-metric ton orbiter-reentry capsule combination early on Sunday morning, 13 December, states the China National Space Administration. It then transferred a sealed container holding 2 kilograms of lunar samples into the capsule.
The operation was the first automated rendezvous and docking of any spacecraft in lunar orbit, the Chinese space agency highlighted.
The BBC reports that the capsule carrying the materials landed in Inner Mongolia shortly around 01:30 local time on Thursday. Specifically, the capsule was targeted to float down on parachute in Siziwang Banner, the same location used to bring Chinese astronauts home, it says.
The spacecraft – named after a Chinese moon goddess – was launched by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket on 24 November at the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in Hainan province.
The Chang’e-5 mission landing point was in the Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms) – the smooth volcanic plain was also visited by the Apollo 12 mission in 1969, says NASA.
