After 50 years, the Chinese lunar spacecraft returned after collecting the 'soil' of the moon

News Desk: After almost 50 years, a lunar spacecraft has returned to the earth with the collection of 'soil' and rocks. The Chinese-operated spacecraft is called Chang'e. The Chandrayaan landed at the Sijiwang banner in the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region early Thursday, local time, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency, citing the China National Space Administration (CNSA).

China launched the Chang'e spacecraft on November 24. The spacecraft had an orbiter designed to go into lunar orbit, a lunar spacecraft and two more spacecraft capable of landing and bringing the lunar spacecraft back to the moon. At 11:11 pm Chinese local time on December 1, the spacecraft landed north of an area known as the 'Storm Ocean' near the moon.

Pang Jing, deputy chief designer at the Chang'e Mission of the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said Chang'e was the first mission to collect lunar samples from Earth in 44 years. He said that their spacecraft would collect samples from the surface of the moon as well as dig from the surface and collect samples from inside.

The mission was to collect two kilograms of samples from the moon. How much has been brought in the end will be known later. If the mission is successful, China will be the third country to collect lunar samples after the United States and the former Soviet Union. This is the first time a lunar spacecraft has returned to Earth since the 1960's. So astronauts are more enthusiastic about the subject.