China on November 24, 2020 launched its Chang’e-5 probe into space from the Wenchang launch site in Hainan province.
Main Features
- The probe was launched by the Long March-5, China’s largest carrier rocket.
- Objective: It will set down on the moon to collect samples from the lunar surface-the first such attempt by any country since the 1970s.
- The Chang’e-5 mission has been named after the ancient Chinese goddess of the moon.
- It will seek to collect lunar material to help scientists understand more about the moon’s origins and formation.
- The Chang’e-5 probe is targeting a 4,265-foot high volcanic complex called Mons Rumker on the moon’s near side, in a region known as Oceanus Procellarum.
- If successful, the mission would make China only the third country to have retrieved lunar samples, joining the United States and the Soviet Union.
