China Set to Retrieve First Moon Rocks in 40 Years

China Set to Retrieve First Moon Rocks in 40 Years

4 years ago
Anonymous $RGO3jP_V_c

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/china-set-to-retrieve-first-moon-rocks-in-40-years/

Later this month, a Chinese spacecraft will travel to the Moon to scoop up lunar rocks for the first time in more than 40 years. The mission, named Chang’e-5, is the latest in a series of increasingly complex trips to the lunar surface led by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), following its first touchdown of a craft, Chang’e-4, on the Moon’s far side last year.

“To take it to the next level and return samples from the Moon is a significant technological capability,” says Carolyn van der Bogert, a planetary geologist at the University of Münster, Germany.