Chinese Lander takes off from the lunar surface



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WOW!

The official Chinese news agency Xinhua has just confirmed that the Chang’e-5 lunar lander ascent vehicle has taken off, bringing with it the first samples of lunar soil to have been collected since the mid-1970s.

The return trip will take just under two weeks, with a scheduled landing in Inner Mongolia around December 16 or 17.

Fast travel

The spacecraft landed on the surface on Tuesday near the western edge of the near face of the Moon, after being launched on November 23 from the Wenchang space launch site in China’s Hainan province.

Just hours after landing, it began to take samples of the surrounding gravel-like surface.

Scientists hope that samples from the region of Oceanus Procellarum where the spacecraft landed will provide new insight into the evolution and history of our nearest neighbor, as the region is believed to be several billion. years younger than when Apollo astronauts first sampled lunar soil in the 1970s.

READ MORE: Live coverage: Chinese spaceship returning sample takes off from moon [SpaceFlight Now]

Learn more about the lander: Chinese lander returns color images of the moon



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