Hey, Space Placers!
China's Chang'e-5 mission's lander has touched down on the Moon.
The next step will be the drilling into the lunar surface to retrieve 2 kilograms (about 4.5 pounds) of lunar samples. Then an ascent stage will ignite and attempt rendezvous with the Chang'e-5 orbiter. If successful, the samples will then be transferred to a return capsule for the return to Earth.
Quite a complex mission. If the samples make it back they will be the first returned to Earth since the USSR did so in 1976.
The samples will be from Mons Rucker, a geologically young site on the Moon that has not been explored before.
China says they will share results with the world but not know if that includes the US.
Sky Guy in VA
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