China has succeeded, it has successfully brought rocks from the Moon, becoming the third country in history to do so..
The mission has been a success, China has confirmed that they have found in Inner Mongolia the capsule that brought lunar rocks to Earth. After a hectic adventure of just a few weeks China has achieved the challenge of bringing lunar samples to Earth and consequently of becoming the third nation to do so. And it has been almost fifty years since the United States and the Soviet Union did it.
Around two in the morning, in the dead of night and on the frozen plains of Inner Mongolia (a vast region of China on the border with Mongolia), lThe capsule of the Chang’e 5 touched down according to state media. This is the end of a mission that began just three weeks ago on November 24 with the launch from Earth.
A fast-paced three-week mission
The Chang’e 5 took off thanks to the Chang Zheng 5 rocket on November 24 in the direction of the Moon. When we got there, the lander with a capsule took off from the orbiter that was, well, orbiting the Moon. On December 1, the lander successfully landed on the Moon and went to work. His goal was collect a total of two kilograms of rock and make a series of analyzes of the surface and composition of the lunar soil. After this, he sent back only the capsule, staying (and dying of cold) the lander on the Moon.
Thereafter it was a matter of the orbiter returning to Earth and launching the capsule so that it fell into Chinese territory. Said and done, once the agents of the Chinese Space Agency have found the capsule, they have been able to collect the precious treasure: two kilograms of rocks and lunar dust.
Samples that Chang’e 5 has brought They are from a volcanic area of the Moon called Mons Rümker. This volcanic mound, about 70 kilometers wide, has the peculiarity of having “recently” erupted. In quotes because that recently means 1,300 million years, but it is relatively recent considering that the samples that the United States and the Soviet Union brought are more than 5,000 million years old. Now it is necessary for the laboratories in China to analyze the samples and offer more details.
China, which is generally more secretive with its space programs, has shown from the beginning the progress of this mission practically live and direct. Proof of your confidence in the mission and its success. Other times you often have to wait for the mission to be completed successfully before they even notify you. Although it is also true that last year we saw quite a show with Chang’e 4 being the first rover to land on the hidden part of the Moon.
Meanwhile, China continues making leaps and bounds in space exploration. It is one of the countries that produces the most rocket launches per year and various missions in recent years demonstrate its progress. They first reached the far side of the Moon, now they bring lunar samples and a rover is on its way to Mars. The space race is no longer a matter of two like five decades ago.
