China returns sample of lunar dirt to Earth
A video animation of the Chang'e 5 lander on the surface of the Moon. | Photo: Xinhua / Jin Liwang via Getty Images China's first mission to return a sample of dirt from the Moon just arrived back at Earth, with a container of lunar rocks in tow, China state media confirmed. A capsule of lunar material scraped up by a Chinese spacecraft landed this afternoon in a very snowy Inner Mongolia, after plunging through Earth's atmosphere and parachuting to the ground.
The landing marks the end of China's third whirlwind - and incredibly complex - mission to the lunar surface, called Chang'e 5. The flight launched on November 23rd, sending a gaggle of four different robotic spacecraft to the Moon's orbit. On December 1st, two of those spacecraft - a lander and an ascent vehicle - touched down on the lunar surface in order to dig up samples of rocks from the...