For the first time in 44 years: a Chinese spacecraft delivered lunar soil to Earth

Novye Izvestia has already reported on the Chinese lunar expedition, that on December 1 this year, their spacecraft landed on the lunar surface, and began collecting lunar soil to send it to Earth. And now the soil samples have been delivered to China. The Chang'e-5 apparatus dropped a capsule with it on the territory of Inner Mongolia. Thus, China became the third country in history after the USA and the USSR to achieve such success.

This is the first successful operation of its kind in 44 years. The last time the lunar soil was brought to Earth in 1976 was the Soviet apparatus "Luna-24".

Lunar soil samples have already been sent to specialized scientific institutions for further study.

This is an unconditional tremendous achievement of the Chinese space program, demonstrating both the great ambitions of this country, and its enormous technical capabilities, allowing it to carry out such complex missions and achieve results in them.

Next in line is China's construction of its own orbital station "Heavenly Palace", which will begin to be assembled in orbit in 2022. But before that, three days later, on December 20, China will test its first reusable rocket.