Chang'e 5

Key facts

Mission & specifications

Mission

Chang'e 5 returned the first fresh samples of the Moon to Earth in forty-four years — since the Soviet Luna 24 in 1976 — and made China only the third nation to bring lunar material home. It was a complex, four-part mission. Launched on 23 November 2020 atop a heavy Long March 5 rocket, it comprised an orbiter, a lander, an ascent stage and a return capsule. The lander touched down on 1 December in Oceanus Procellarum, near a volcanic dome called Mons Rümker, and used a drill and a scoop to gather about 1.7 kilograms of rock and soil. The ascent stage then lifted the cargo back to lunar orbit, where it performed the first robotic rendezvous and docking ever carried out around the Moon, transferring the sample to the waiting return capsule. On 16 December the capsule streaked back into Earth's atmosphere and parachuted down in Inner Mongolia. The rocks proved to be a revelation: at around two billion years old, they were far younger than most Apollo and Luna samples, showing that the Moon stayed volcanically active much longer than scientists had assumed. Chang'e 5 demonstrated, in a single flight, every step needed for a future mission to bring samples back from Mars.

1. 2020Launch atop a Long March 5Launch

   The four-part sample-return craft departs for the Moon.

2. 2020Landing in Oceanus ProcellarumLanding

   Sets down near the volcanic dome Mons Rümker; a drill and scoop gather ~1.7 kg of material.

3. 2020Ascent from the surfaceAscent

   The ascent stage lifts the sample back to lunar orbit.

4. 2020First lunar-orbit dockingMilestone

   An automated rendezvous transfers the sample to the return capsule — a first around the Moon.

5. 2020Samples return to EarthLanding

   The capsule parachutes into Inner Mongolia with the first new lunar samples in 44 years.

Images

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