The Chang’e-5 mission

Abstract

Chang’e-5 mission is China’s first lunar sample return mission, 44 years after last robotic sampling by Luna-24 in 1976. Chang’e-5 aims at returning ~2 kg of lunar samples. It launched on November 24, 2020, landed on the Moon on December 1, 2020, sampled ~1731 g of lunar samples both by drilling and scooping, and returned back to the Earth on December 17, 2020. The Chang’e-5 landing site is in the Northern Oceanus Procellarum in the northwest nearside, which is covered by some of the youngest mare basalts on the Moon. The returned samples will be managed by Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center and stored in Ground Research Application System. The primary storage facility, equipped with qualified instruments, will be responsible for sample classification and curation. Both scientists from China and around the world can apply these samples upon application with outstanding research ideas.