translated from Spanish: Chinese capsule brought to Earth the first samples of rock and lunar debris in 40 years

A Chinese lunar capsule returned to Earth on Thursday with the first samples of rock and lunar debris in 40 years. The Chang’e 5 probe capsule landed in the Siziwang district of Inner Mongolia, the state press reported shortly after 2 a.m. (1800 GMT). The capsule separated from its orbital module and bounced back into Earth’s atmosphere to slow down before traversing it and landing with parachutes. Two of Chang’e 5’s four modules landed on the moon on December 1 and collected about two kilos of samples from the surface and two meters below the crust. The samples were deposited in a sealed container that was transported to the module back by an ascent vehicle. The successful mission is the latest in China’s ambitious state program, which includes a robot mission to Mars and plans for a permanent orbital station, Crews prepared helicopters and off-road vehicles to follow the signals emitted by the lunar spacecraft and find it in Shenzhou.Es the midst of darkness in the vast region of the far north of the country, long used for landings of manned spacecraft the first time scientists obtained new samples of lunar rocks from the Soviet robot probe Moon in 1976.Se believe that these rocks and debris are billions of years newer than those obtained by the United States and the Soviet Union, and allow to increase knowledge of the history of the moon and other bodies of the solar system.

Original source in Spanish