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China’s Chang’e-5 probe ascender successfully landed and docked with the orbiter-return combination in lunar orbit at 5:42 a.m. BJT on Sunday, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.
This is the first time that a Chinese spacecraft has made a rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit.
The samples taken from the moon weigh about 2 kilograms and were transferred from the winch to the turner, 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, ascender, and turner, was launched on November 24, and its lander-ascender combination landed north of Mons Rumker at Oceanus Procellarum, also known as Ocean of Storms, near the moon, December 1.
After the samples were collected and sealed, Chang’e-5’s ascender lifted off from the lunar surface on December 3.
The orbiter-turner will then separate from the ascender and wait for the right time to return to Earth.
(With contribution from Xinhua)
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