Lunar Rocks

The storms on the moon are never stopping; these storms are vast, dry open in space. That was once very occupied. The Surveyor 3 spacecraft landed on the moon in 1967 by NASA. Then, after two years the team of Apollo 12 arrived on the moon. Those astronauts landed near the Surveyor 3 spacecraft and collected a roundabout of almost 35 kg of moon rock and soil and brought them back to the Earth.
Since then, till now, these things have been silent in the ocean of storms. But now, on December 1st, China's Chang’e 5 Spacecraft has landed in the same area. As China's Chang’e 5 has successfully returned to earth, after the time of two weeks; china is the only second country on the earth to successfully bring back the moon dust and soil.

Geologists are very eager to look at the materials brought to the Earth's surface from the moon. As Brad Jolliff, one of the directors at McDonnell Space Science Centre in Washington said in one email to a press associate, “These samples will be a treasure trove.”

Cheng’e 5 Mission
The Chang’e 5 mission is the 5th spacecraft in the lunar winning streak for the China space station. In 2007 Chang’e 1 orbited the moon successfully, and in 2010 their spacecraft named Chang’e 2 gave the same successful results. And in the year 2003, Chang’e 3 landed on the moon and left a rover. In the year 2019, Chang’e 4 did the same and thus became the world’s first spacecraft to successfully land on the surface of the moon, on its far side.
But the mission of Chang’e 5 was much harder, as it involved multiple tasks. Chang’e 5 of China was also a multistage spacecraft, that didn’t just land there but lifted from off its surface without any problem. It was launched on 23 November of 2020, the spacecraft successfully entered the lunar atmosphere on November 28th. The first stage separation was made and the main craft landed on the moon on December 1st.

Then this spacecraft collected about 1.9 kg of the moon’s rocks and soil. Then it transferred the material to another vehicle. Then this vehicle lifted off and joined back the other spacecraft meeting at the correct time and position.

Then, the sample was brought back to earth; they were brought in a re-entry capsule. This capsule landed in Inner Mongolia on the date of December 16th, thus declaring the success of the mission.

China still wants to take on another lunar mission, this time with crew members on board, in the year 2030.

By: Shreya Jain