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Chang’e 5 mission: China’s moon probe seals lunar rocks and soil in airtight capsules for return to Earth

  • Lunar dust and rocks have been sealed and packaged on the surface of the moon for best preservation, China National Space Administration says
  • The mission’s surface sampling and packing system was developed by Hong Kong Polytechnic University

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An image taken on December 2, 2020, by the China National Space Administration shows the Chang'e 5 lunar probe gathering samples on the moon. Photo: CNSA via CNS/AFP
Holly Chik
The Chang’e 5 mission finished collecting moon rocks on Wednesday night in China’s first attempt at a sample-return lunar mission, according to the China National Space Administration.
The probe packed and sealed the lunar samples after a 19-hour operation following its soft landing on Tuesday night. Running on a solar battery, the spacecraft had two days to gather rocks and lunar dust from the surface as well as drilling underground for samples.
An image taken on December 1, 2020, shows the moon surface from a panoramic camera aboard the lander-ascender combination of the Chang'e 5 spacecraft after landing on the moon. Photo: CNSA via CNS/AFP
An image taken on December 1, 2020, shows the moon surface from a panoramic camera aboard the lander-ascender combination of the Chang'e 5 spacecraft after landing on the moon. Photo: CNSA via CNS/AFP

“To make sure that the lunar samples are kept airtight and unaffected by the external environment during the journey back to Earth, the probe sealed the samples on the moon surface,” the space agency said.

“The lunar soil structure detector on the lander and other equipment operated normally and carried out the explorations as planned.”

If successful, China will be only the third country to have retrieved samples from the moon, after the United States and the former Soviet Union in the 1960s and 70s.

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