December 2, 2020: China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced that China’s Chang’e-5 probe has landed on the near side of the moon. The probe is expected to bring back samples from the moon. If successful, China will be the third country after the US and former Soviet Union to achieve this feat. The lunar probe was launched on November 24, 2020 and landed on the near side of the moon at around 11:11 pm on December 1.
The statement released by CNSA says that the probe has started gathering lunar rocks and soil after landing on the moon.
“At the climax of a landmark mission, China’s Chang’e 5 robotic lunar probe has started gathering lunar rocks and soil after landing on the moon late on Tuesday night,” said the statement released by CNSA.
According to CNSA, Chang’e 5 is expected to work for about two days in a region to the north of Mons Ruemker, a mountain overlooking a vast lunar mare called Oceanus Procellarum, or the Ocean of Storms, on the western edge of the moon’s near side. After the surface operations are completed, it will bring about 2 kilograms of lunar samples back to Earth in mid-December.
This probe is part of Chinese Lunar Exploration Program also known as Chang’e Project, named after Chinese goddess of moon. This is the 5th mission in the series. The first mission, Chang’e 1, was launched in 2007, Chang’e 2 in 2010, Chang’e 3 in 2013, and Chang’e 4 in 2018.
Global Times, an English media wing of People’s Daily, has touted this as a demonstration of China’s capabilities for manned moon missions. According to an article in Global Times, this mission “laid a solid foundation” for China’s future plans to land a man on moon by next decade. In 2019, China had become the first nation to put a probe on the far side of the moon.
