Chinese probe leaves the moon with samples of its rocks

TOKYO: China’s “Chang’e5” space probe left the Moon on Thursday after completing its mission to take samples from its rocks.

This came according to what was reported by the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The probe is expected to join a spacecraft to move it out of the moon’s orbit and return to Earth in the coming days.

State media reported that the space capsule landed on the surface of the moon on Tuesday and began collecting rock samples on Wednesday.

The Chinese space mission aims to bring lunar rock samples to Earth, for the first time in 44 years, and it is a mission carried out only by the United States and the Soviet Union, so far.

On November 24, China launched the spacecraft from the equatorial island of Hainan in the south of the country. On December 1, it landed north of Mons Romker in the “Oceanus Proslarum” area known as the Ocean of Storms, on the near face of the moon.
Chinese probes have already managed to land on the Moon twice in the past.
The purpose of the “Chang-e5” mission is to bring about two kilograms of moon rock to Earth.

And researchers hope these samples will provide new information about the moon’s volcanic activity.

Anatolia