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China's Chang'e-5 lunar probe successfully delivers

moon samples to Earth
By Jennifer Hauser and Zamira Rahim, CNN
 Updated 0154 GMT (0954 HKT) December 17, 2020

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(CNN) — China has become only the third country in the world to successfully collect rocks from
the moon.

In the early hours of Thursday morning Beijing time, the country's unmanned Chang'e-5 mission
returned to Earth carrying the country's first moon samples, according to Chinese state media
outlet Xinhua.

The samples were retrieved from a previously unvisited area of the moon, and are also the first
samples to be collected by any country since the 1970s.

The returning capsule landed in Siziwang Banner, which lies north of China's Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region, just before 2 a.m. Thursday Beijing time (1 p.m. ET Wednesday), according
to China's National Space Administration (CNSA).

A Long March 5 rocket carrying China's Chang'e-5 lunar probe launches from the Wenchang Space
Center on November 24.

The probe, named after the ancient Chinese goddess of the moon, first took o from the
Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Hainan on November 24.

It landed on the near side of the moon on December 1, on a massive lava plain known as
Oceanus Procellarum, or "Ocean of Storms." According to NASA, this large dark spot could be a
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scar from a giant cosmic impact that created an ancient sea of magma. by

The samples from this region could help scientists understand more about the moon's origins
and foundations -- and set the foundation for more complex sample retrieval missions in the
future, potentially on other planets.

After the returning capsule landed back on Earth, it will be airlifted to Beijing, where the capsule
will be opened and the samples will be ready for analysis and study, according to Chinese state
media news agency Xinhua. China will also make some of the samples available to scientists in [Gallery] 27 Images Of The Spectacular
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other countries, said Pei Zhaoyu, a deputy director at the CNSA. Articlestone

Chinese scientists are already drawing up plans for

future lunar exploration, said Pei -- including a project
to construct a scientific research station on the moon.
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"We hope to cooperate with other countries to build the Oldest Living Here's Where He Is
international lunar scientific research station, which Western Star Today
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could provide a shared platform for lunar scientific
exploration and technological experiments," Pei said, More from CNN
Related Article: Only two countries have
collected rocks from the moon. For according to Xinhua.
China, it's just the beginning
China's achievement follows the United States and the
Soviet Union, which both collected lunar samples
decades ago. O cials are O cials find pilot's
searching for the body after an F-16…
pilot of an F-16…
In the Apollo programme, which first put men on the moon, the United States landed 12
astronauts over six flights from 1969 to 1972, bringing back 382 kg (842 pounds) of rocks and
soil.

The Soviet Union deployed three successful robotic sample return missions in the 1970s. The Florida police raid US blacklists
last, the Luna 24, retrieved 170.1 grams (6 ounces) of samples in 1976 from Mare Crisium, or home of former Chinese triad boss
state Covid-19… 'Broken Tooth…
"Sea of Crises."

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