BEIJING: China on Tuesday launched an unmanned spacecraft to bring back lunar rocks — the first attempt by any nation to retrieve samples from the Moon in four decades. The mission’s goal is to shovel up lunar rocks and soil to help scientists learn about the Moon’s origins, formation and volcanic activity on its surface. The probe is expected to land in late November and collect material during one lunar day — equivalent to around 14 Earth days. The mission is technically challenging and involves several innovations not seen during previous attempts at collecting moon rocks, said Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. It was the second Chinese probe to land on the Moon, following the Yutu (“Jade Rabbit”) rover mission in 2013.

Source: Manila Times November 24, 2020 16:17 UTC