Success! China's Chang'e 5 lander has touched down on the lunar surface just hours ago, as confirmed by state media. The mission's goal: collect approximately two kilograms of lunar samples and return them to Earth.
Launched on November 23, the Chang'e 5 mission marks China's bold step to retrieve the first fresh lunar samples since the U.S. Apollo program (1969-1972) and the Soviet Luna 16 mission (1970). For context, China already maintains three active spacecraft on the Moon: the Chang'e 3 lander from 2013, and the Chang'e 4 lander with its Yutu-2 rover, which made history by landing on the Moon's far side in January 2019.
The mission has progressed seamlessly. The spacecraft entered lunar orbit on November 28, five days after liftoff from Wenchang Space Launch Site. The orbiter—carrying the return module—and the lander with its ascent vehicle separated successfully the following day at 8:40 p.m. French time.
This paved the way for a pinpoint landing near Mons Rümker in the Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms). "The spacecraft is operating normally, with stable communications to ground control," confirmed officials from the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
While CNSA had not specified the exact landing date, CGTN, China's public broadcaster, announced the triumphant touchdown.
Chang'e 5 aims to drill and collect about two kilograms of lunar regolith. Powered by solar energy, the surface operations must wrap up within two Earth weeks—before local sunset on the Moon, where a lunar day spans roughly 29 Earth days of alternating light and darkness.
Samples will be sealed in the ascent vehicle, which will launch to rendezvous with the orbiter. The orbiter then heads home, targeting a touchdown in Inner Mongolia around mid-December.
Success here will enable scientists to rigorously test theories on the Moon's origins and the inner solar system's rocky worlds. Crater counts offer rough age estimates—ranging from over three billion to one billion years for Mons Rümker—but lack precision.
Radiometric dating of returned samples, analyzing radioactive isotope ratios in the rocks, will yield definitive ages. These insights will sharpen models for lunar terrains and extend to Mars, Mercury, and Venus.
