On December 16th, 2020 at 17:59 UTC, the sample capsule of Chang’e-5 successfully landed at Dorbod Banner, Inner Mongolia, China. It is a milestone for the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP), which has achieved the goals of its first three phases: orbiting, landing, and sample return. China becomes the third country to return samples from the Moon after the United States and the Soviet Union. Forty-four years since the Luna 24 mission in 1976, new lunar samples have been returned to Earth.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Yang et al. (2020) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: