Chang'e 5
China's first Moon samples, and the youngest lava ever brought back from the Moon.
Key facts
- Agency
- China National Space Administration
- Type of mission
- Robotic sample return
- Target
- The Moon: Oceanus Procellarum, near Mons Rümker
- Launched
- 23 November 2020
- Samples returned
- 1,731 g of soil and drill core
- Status
- Completed 2020
Chang'e 5 was the first lunar sample return since Luna 24 in 1976. It landed on 1 December 2020 in the north of Oceanus Procellarum, near the volcanic hills of Mons Rümker, a region chosen because crater counts suggested its lava was unusually young.
The lander drilled about a metre into the ground and scooped soil from the surface, sealing 1,731 grams into a container. An ascent stage carried it to lunar orbit, where it docked with an orbiter: the first robotic docking around another world. The capsule then skipped off Earth's upper atmosphere to slow down before landing in Inner Mongolia on 16 December 2020.
What the samples showed
The basalts are about 2.0 billion years old, more than a billion years younger than any lava brought back by Apollo or Luna. So the Moon stayed volcanically active much longer than many models had allowed. The age also gives a firm anchor for dating planetary surfaces by counting craters, a method used across the Solar System.
In 2022 scientists described a new mineral from the samples, a phosphate named changesite-(Y). The soil also contains glass beads made by impacts that hold traces of water.
Why it matters to meteorites
A few lunar meteorites are young basalts too. Chang'e 5 gives them a well-dated relative from a known place.
Key dates
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 23 November 2020 | Chang'e 5 launched on a Long March 5 rocket. |
| 1 December 2020 | Landed near Mons Rümker in Oceanus Procellarum. |
| 6 December 2020 | The ascent stage docked with the orbiter in lunar orbit. |
| 16 December 2020 | The capsule landed in Inner Mongolia with 1,731 g of samples. |
| September 2022 | A new mineral, changesite-(Y), was announced from the samples. |
See where this mission fits among all the others in the mission timeline.
Did you know?
Chang'e 5 raised a Chinese flag made of fabric on the Moon, photographed by the lander's camera.
Its samples are about 2 billion years old, the youngest volcanic rocks ever returned from the Moon.