China will launch soon a lunar mission to do what humanity hasn't done since 1976: bring back geologic samples from the moon.

#Change5

We're on #Wenchang on the tropical island of #Hainan, south of Hanoi, where a #LongMarch5 rocket will blast to the moon a space craft w 4 modules: an orbiter, a rover armed w a drill and claw, an ascent vehicle to get off the moon, & a return capsule. Image c/o @exploreplanets

Watch this space (sorry bad pun) for updates and @AP live service for liftoff.

Chang’e 5 is China’s most ambitious lunar mission yet and marks the first time in four decades that any country has sought to bring rocks and debris from the moon to Earth. https://apnews.com/article/moon-china-mars-17ef74485d42a236adec493fea263919

That could boost human understanding of the moon, its age and resources, and of the solar system more generally.

The secretive Chinese National Space Administration has only said that a launch is scheduled for late November. The mission’s key task is to drill 2m beneath the moon’s surface and scoop up about 2kg of rocks and other debris to be brought back to Earth.

After making the three-day trip from Earth, the Chang’e 5 lander’s time on the moon is scheduled to be short and sweet. It can only stay one lunar daytime, or about 14 days, bc it lacks the radioisotope heating units of China’s lunar rover to withstand the moon’s freezing nights

In position for @AP at #Wenchang for #change5 lunar mission launch #CNAS #Moon #lunar #orbit #lunarrover #drillbabydrill #onassignment

#liftoff!