After its successful landing on the Moon , Chang’e 5 has been fussy drilling and collecting material to be send to Earth . It has also taken beautiful images and footage from the airfoil , showcasing the haunting beauty of the Moon . Buzz Aldrin described it asmagnificent desolationduring the Apollo 11 mission .
The lander is located in theNorth - West regionof Oceanus Procellarus ( the Ocean of Storms ) . Ithas collectedroughly 2 kilograms ( 4.4 pounding ) of lunar material , some from the soil on the surface and the residuum from a depth of up to 2 meter ( 6.6 feet ) , where a specialist drill was used to hit the subsurface stuff . The samples are destined to be sent to Earth soon .
There is an urgency to this missionary post . Chang’e5 is not designed to withstand the frigid lunar night , which will come to the region in just over a workweek . Unlike its precursor , Chang’e 4 , who was outfit with a radioisotope heater , Chang’e 5 will simply check turn as the temperature falls to -133 ° C ( -208 ° F ) .
By then , the sample will be on its way to Earth . It will ascend from the lunar surface and rendezvous with the orbiter . From there , it ’s a 4.5 - twenty-four hour period trip-up back to Earth . The sample distribution capsule is expect to land on December 16 - 17 , somewhere in Mongolia .
If everything go fit in to plan , this will be the first assemblage of lunar fabric in 44 years , earn China the third country to gather sample distribution from the Moon . The last time this happened was with the Russian Luna 24 mission in 1976 .
Like all previous Taiwanese lunar commission , Chang’e 5 is named after Chang’e , the Chinese goddess of the Moon . These missions are part of a multi - decade program that the Chinese National Space Agency has plan for lunar exploration .
The program has four phase . The first form evidence the Agency ’s capability of placing spacecraft in lunar orbit with Chang’e 1 and 2 . The second phase was landing and roving around with Chang’e 3 and 4 . Chang’e 4 in particular was a crucial achievement as it became the first soft - landing place performed on the far side of the Moon .
Chang’e 5 and its successor Chang’e 6 will be collecting lunar sample . The fourth phase angle will see the construction of a robotic inquiry station near the Lunar south pole . The platform has the ultimate goal of facilitating an eventual crewed landing during the 2030s .
