China’s lunar probe lands on the Moon: Xinhua – Manila Bulletin

An unmanned Chinese spacecraft landed on the moon on Tuesday, state media reported, the latest milestone in a mission to collect samples from the lunar surface.

The Chang’e-5 spacecraft “landed on the near side of the moon Tuesday night,” the Xinhua report said, citing the China National Space Administration.

China has invested billions in its military-led space program, hoping to have a manned space station by 2022 and eventually send humans to the Moon.

The objective of the mission is to remove lunar rocks and soil to help scientists learn about the origins, formation and volcanic activity of the Moon on its surface.

If successful, China will be only the third country to have recovered samples from the Moon, after the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Chinese probe will collect two kilograms (4.5 pounds) of surface material in a previously unexplored area known as Oceanus Procellarum, or “Ocean of Storms,” ​​which consists of a vast plain of lava, according to the scientific journal Nature.

It is expected to collect material during one lunar day, equivalent to around 14 Earth days.

The samples will then be returned to Earth in a capsule scheduled to land in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China in early December, according to the US space agency NASA.