Beijing is looking to catch up with the US and Russia after taking decades to match its rivals’ achievements and has poured billions into its military-run space programme.
Earlier, the US planted the first flag on the Moon during the Apollo mission in 1969. In the Apollo programme, which first put men on the moon, the US landed 12 astronauts over six flights from 1969 to 1972, bringing back 382 kg (842 pounds) of rocks and soil.
China becomes second nation to plant flag on the Moon “China has planted its flag on the Moon, more than 50 years after the US first planted the Stars and Stripes there.” @BBCWorld #China #Moon https://t.co/aKHy08mUv9
— Christina Ayiotis, Esq., CRM, CIPP/E, AIGP (@christinayiotis) December 4, 2020
On Friday, the China National Space Administration (CSNA) released pictures of Chinese flag placed on the lunar surface.The maneuver was part of the ambitious Chang’e-5 mission — named after a mythical Chinese Moon goddess — to bring back the first lunar samples in four decades
This image provided by China National Space Administration shows Chang’e-5 probe gathering samples on the moon surface on December 2, 2020. A Chinese lunar probe lifted off from the moon on December 3 night with a cargo of lunar samples on the first stage of its return to Earth.
This image provided by China National Space Administration shows Chang’e-5 probe gathering samples on the moon surface on December 2, 2020. A Chinese lunar probe lifted off from the moon on December 3 night with a cargo of lunar samples on the first stage of its return to Earth. | Photo Credit:
Scientists hope the samples from Chang’e-5 will help them learn more about the Moon’s origins and volcanic activity on its surface.
A Chinese probe carrying samples from the lunar surface successfully docked on Sunday with a spacecraft orbiting the moon, in another space first for the nation, state media reported.
China Moon probe starts collecting material pic.twitter.com/bjedJRWjnP
— The National (@TheNationalNews) December 2, 2020
The maneuver was part of the ambitious Chang’e-5 mission — named after a mythical Chinese Moon goddess — to bring back the first lunar samples in four decades.
The cargo capsule carrying lunar rocks and soil lifted off from the surface on Thursday, and docked with the orbiter on Sunday morning, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing the China National Space Administration (CNSA).Xinhua said it was China’s first “rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit”.
The cargo capsule’s departure from the lunar surface on Thursday was also a first: the first liftoff of a Chinese craft from an extraterrestrial body. The capsule transferred the moon samples to the orbiter, which will separate and return to Earth, Xinhua said.
China is looking to catch up with the United States and Russia after taking decades to match their achievements, and has poured billions into its military-run space programme. Its space agency said previously that “before liftoff, the Chinese flag was raised on the moon’s surface”.
Scientists hope the samples from Chang’e-5 will help them learn more about the Moon’s origins and volcanic activity on its surface.
If the return journey is successful, China will become only the third country to have retrieved samples from the Moon, following the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s.
