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China’s Chang’e-5 ascendant successfully reunited and docked with the orbiter-returner combination in lunar orbit at 5:42 BJT on Sunday, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced.
This is the first time that a Chinese spacecraft has met and docked in lunar orbit.
The samples collected on the moon weigh about 2 kilograms and have been transferred from the ascendant to the returner, the CNSA said.
The Chang’e-5 mission is one of the most complicated in Chinese aerospace history, as well as the world’s first lunar sampling mission in more than 40 years.
The Chang’e-5 probe, comprising an orbiter, lander, ascendant, and return, was launched on November 24, and its lander and ascendant combination landed north of Mons Rumker at Oceanus Procellarum. , also known as the Ocean of Storms, on the near side of the moon on December 1.
After the samples were collected and sealed, Chang’e-5’s ascendant lifted off from the lunar surface on December 3.
The returning orbiter will separate from the ascendant and wait for the right moment to return to Earth.
(With input from Xinhua)
