Chang’e-5 Mission: China’s First Mission To Return Moon Samples

• 25 Nov 2020

• China has launched Chang’e-5 probe - its first mission to return moon samples.
• China’s Chang’e-5 probe is named after the Chinese Moon goddess who is traditionally accompanied by a white or jade rabbit.
• The Chinese National Space Administration’s (CNSA) lunar sample return mission is aimed at landing in the Mons Rumker region of the moon, where it will operate for one lunar day, which is two weeks long and return a 2 kg sample of the lunar rock possibly by digging about 2 metres deep into the surface of the Moon.
• The mission comprises a lunar orbiter, a lander, and an ascent probe that will lift the lunar samples back into orbit and return them back to Earth.
• Chang’e-5 comprises a robotic arm, a coring drill, a sample chamber and is also equipped with a camera, penetrating radar and a spectrometer.