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   On the early morning of December 17, the Chang’e-5 lunar probe (月球探测器) landed safely on the grasslands in Inner Mongolia, meaning the Chang’e-5 mission (任务) ended successfully.

Chang’e-5 was launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan Province on November 24, 2020. On December 1, the probe got to the moon. During the stay on the moon, it collected 1,731 grams of rock and soil samples (样品). On December 3, our national flag was shown on the moon. After that, the probe was ready to go home.

China is no stranger to lunar exploration (探月) programs. Over the years, it has sent a number of increasingly challenging missions to the moon. One of the most famous missions was the historic landing of Chang’e-4 spacecraft on the moon’s far side in 2019. As Chang’e-5 reached a new area of the moon, this launch successfully pushed the limits (极限) even further. It’s no doubt a great step forward for the space industry.

This is a truly historic event for China’s space program, making China the third nation in the world to bring samples back from the moon. The success has also made Chang’e-5 the first spacecraft to bring back samples from the moon since 1976 when a Russian spaceship brought back 170.1 grams of samples to the earth. This was no easy task, but China has made it.