Will bring back lunar rocks for research
China has successfully sent a robotic spacecraft to the moon to collect rock samples from there and bring them back to Earth for the first time in
more than four decades. The mission is called Chang’e-5.
The Chang’e-5 spacecraft was carried into space by the Long March-5, China’s largest carrier rocket, which blasted off from Wenchang Space
Launch Center on the southern Chinese island of Hainan. Chang’e is the name of Chinese moon goddess.
This launch makes China the third country, after Russia and United States, to send a mission to the moon to retrieve rocks.
The lander will collect rocks and soil with a robotic arm and transfer them to the ascender vehicle, which will carry the payload, and then dock(park the vehicle) with an orbiting module.
The sample then would be transferred to a return capsule, for the trip back to Earth.
The mission is scheduled for 14 Earth days, of which 3 days will be taken to reach the Moon.
The lander cannot withstand the moon’s freezing nights as it is not equipped with heating units.