---
title: "China Releases Footage of Lander Touching Down on Lunar Surface"
description: "China released video footage today of its Chang'e-5 spacecraft approaching and then safely landing on the surface of the near side of the Moon."
date: "2020-12-02"
modified: "2020-12-02"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-footage-lander-touchdown-moon-surface"
categories:
  - "Off-World"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "china"
  - "lunar lander"
  - "moon"
  - "the digest"
---

# China Releases Footage of Lander Touching Down on Lunar Surface

![China released video footage today of its Chang'e-5 spacecraft approaching and then safely landing on the surface of the near side of the Moon.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/china-footage-lander-touchdown-moon-surface.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: CCTV\</em\>*

## Moon Landing

China released video footage today of its Chang'e-5 spacecraft approaching and then safely landing on the surface of the near side of the Moon.

The footage shows the small craft zooming over countless craters of various sizes before slowing down and descending vertically for touchdown.

China now has three landers currently operating on the Moon. No other country has safely landed on the lunar surface since 1976, as [*The New York Times* points out](<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/science/china-moon-landing.html>). If successful, the mission will be the first time humans have retrieved lunar samples since that date as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS9zr6MrCiM

## Phone Home

Chang'e-5 is [currently in the process](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-robot-mission-successfully-collects-moon-rocks>) of scooping up several pounds of lunar rocks to eventually bring back down to Earth.

The spacecraft may lift off to start the journey back home as soon as Thursday, according to the *Times*.

The lander set down in Mons Rumker, a massive basalt lava plain that's billions of years younger than the rocks retrieved by Apollo astronauts during the 1970s. Scientists are hoping samples from the region could help fill in the blanks when it comes to deciphering the history and evolution of our closest neighbor.

https://twitter.com/PDChina/status/1334007044722999297?

**READ MORE:** [Watch the Moon Landing of China’s Chang’e-5 Spacecraft](<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/science/china-moon-landing.html>) \[*The New York Times*\]

**More on Chang'e-5:** *[Chinese Robot Mission Successfully Collects Moon Rocks](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-robot-mission-successfully-collects-moon-rocks>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)