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In this photo from the China National Space Administration (CNSA) published by the Xinhua News Agency, a simulated image of the ascendant of the Chang’e-5 spacecraft taking off from the lunar surface at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center ( BACC) in Beijing on December 3. , 2020. The Chinese lunar probe lifted off from the moon Thursday night with a shipment of lunar samples in the first stage of its return to Earth, state media reported. (China National Space Administration / Xinhua via AP)
A Chinese probe that landed on the moon transferred rocks to an orbiter on Sunday in preparation for returning samples from the lunar surface to Earth for the first time in nearly 45 years, the space agency announced.
The upper stage of the Change’e lander lifted off the lunar surface on Friday. If the mission is successful, it will make China the third country after the United States and the former Soviet Union to bring moon rocks to Earth.
The ascent stage was docked with a robot spacecraft orbiting the moon at 5:42 am Sunday (2142 GMT Saturday), state media reported, citing the China National Space Administration. A container with 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of rocks was transferred to the orbiter 30 minutes later.
A capsule containing the rock samples will land in the northern Chinese grasslands of the Inner Mongolia region in mid-December. They will be the first fresh samples of the lunar surface obtained by scientists from the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 probe in 1976.
The CNSA released a photo taken by the orbiter showing the ascent stage rocket approaching for a rendezvous.
China is in the midst of a series of increasingly ambitious space missions, including a probe en route to Mars and the development of a reusable space plane. The plans call for returning a human being to the moon five decades after American astronauts.
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This image provided by the National Space Administration of China shows the Chang’e-5 probe collecting samples from the lunar surface on Wednesday, December 2, 2020. A Chinese lunar probe lifted off from the moon on Thursday, December 3 at night with a load of moles. samples in the first stage of their return to Earth, the government space agency reported, on what is expected to be a revolutionary mission for the growing Asian space power. (China National Space Administration / Xinhua via AP)
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In this photo released by the Xinhua News Agency, the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) screens show the explosion and simulation of the ascendant of the Chang’e-5 spacecraft taking off from the lunar surface in Beijing on Thursday 3 December 2020. The Chinese lunar probe lifted off from the moon Thursday night with a cargo of lunar samples in the first stage of its return to Earth, state media reported. (Jin Liwang / Xinhua via AP)
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This image provided by the China National Space Administration shows the ascendant of the Chang’e-5 spacecraft taking off from the lunar surface on Thursday, December 3, 2020. A Chinese lunar probe lifted off from the moon on Thursday night with a sample load on the first stage of its return to Earth, the government space agency reported, on what is expected to be a revolutionary mission for the growing Asian space power. (China National Space Administration / Xinhua via AP)
Chinese spacecraft carrying lunar rocks lifts off the moon
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Citation: Chinese probe prepares to return lunar rocks to Earth (2020, December 6) Retrieved December 6, 2020 from https://phys.org/news/2020-12-chinese-probe-moon-earth.html
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