Video source: CCTV News
BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- The return capsule of China's Chang'e-5 probe touched down on Earth in the early hours of Thursday, bringing back the country's first samples collected from the moon, as well as the world's freshest lunar samples in over 40 years.
The spacecraft landed in Siziwang Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, at 1:59 a.m. (Beijing Time), according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
Zhang Kejian, head of the CNSA, declared the Chang'e-5 mission a success.
It also marks a successful conclusion of China's current three-step lunar exploration program of orbiting and landing, and bringing back samples, which began in 2004.
Under ground control, the return capsule separated from the orbiter about 5,000 km above the Atlantic. The capsule entered the Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of about 120 km and a speed of about 11.2 km per second at 1:33 a.m.
Photos provided to People's Daily.
After aerodynamic deceleration, it skipped out of the atmosphere. Then the capsule re-entered the atmosphere to perform aerodynamic deceleration a second time. At about 10 km above ground, a parachute opened.
The capsule landed smoothly in the predetermined area, and the search team recovered it.
The capsule is set to be airlifted to Beijing for opening, and the moon samples will be delivered to the research team for analysis and study, said the CNSA.
China will make some of the samples available to scientists in other countries, Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of CNSA, has said.
Chang'e-5 is one of the most complicated and challenging missions in China's aerospace history. The probe, comprising an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a returner, was launched on Nov. 24, and its lander-ascender combination touched down on the north of the Mons Rumker in Oceanus Procellarum, also known as the Ocean of Storms, on the near side of the moon on Dec. 1.
The milestone mission has accomplished several firsts for China, including the first moon sampling, the first liftoff from an extraterrestrial body, the first rendezvous and docking in lunar orbit and the first spacecraft carrying samples to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere at high speed.
China is drawing up plans for future lunar exploration, including constructing a basic version of a scientific research station, said Pei.
"We hope to cooperate with other countries to build the international lunar scientific research station, which could provide a shared platform for lunar scientific exploration and technological experiments," Pei said.