--- title: "China Just Brought the First Moon Rocks Back to Earth Since 1976" description: "China's lunar probe has officially returned with the first pristine samples collected from the Moon's surface in almost half a century." date: "2020-12-16" modified: "2020-12-16" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-obtained-moon-rocks" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "Space" tags: - "chang'e 5" - "china" - "lunar sample" - "moon" - "the digest" --- # China Just Brought the First Moon Rocks Back to Earth Since 1976 ![China's lunar probe has officially returned with the first pristine samples collected from the Moon's surface in almost half a century.]() *\Image: CCTV\* ## Touch Down China's Chang'e-5 mission has officially returned with the first new samples collected from the Moon's surface in almost half a century. The spacecraft touched down in the Siziwang district of Inner Mongolia around 1pm Eastern time, and search teams have likely already found it. Thermal camera footage shown by state media TV network *CCTV* appears to show the capsule sitting in an otherwise barren landscape. It's a historic moment, and an extraordinary testament to China's space ambitions. The last time humanity returned samples from the Moon was in 1976, when the Soviet Union's robotic Luna 24 spacecraft brought back about six ounces of lunar samples on board. https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1339274595837341700 ## Inflection Point It's yet another major milestone for China's trailblazing space program. Chang'e-5 joined two other Chinese landers on the Moon. In 2013, Chang'e-3 was the first soft landing on the Moon since Luna 24. And Chang'e-4 became the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the Moon in 2019. Chang'e-5 scooped up anywhere between 4.4 and 8.8 pounds of lunar samples upon landing. An ascent vehicle then took it into lunar orbit and transferred it to a return module. The entire mission was completed at a breakneck pace. Chang'e-5 [launched]() on November 23 and landed on the Moon on December 1. Just two days later, the ascent vehicle [took off]() from Oceanus Procellarum, a vast lunar plain near the western edge of the near side of the Moon, to transfer the samples. And now, incredibly, it appears to be back on Earth. **More on the lander:** *[Breaking: Chinese Lander Takes Off From Lunar Surface]()* ## 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]()