Moon: China to launch probe to bring back samples

China is making the final preparations on Monday, November 23 before the imminent sending to the Moon of a probe to collect moon rocks, the first operation of its kind in more than 40 years.

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The Long March 5 rocket that will propel the machine is in place on the launch pad of the Wenchang space launch center, on the tropical island of Hainan (south), official media said.

According to several observers, the launch could take place Tuesday morning local time.

As usual, China has not announced a specific date or time, space being considered a sensitive area.

This Chang'e 5 mission - named after a moon goddess in Chinese mythology - is the next step in China's ambitious space program, which struck a blow in early 2019 by landing a machine on the far side. of the Moon, a world first.

The probe that will be sent this time aims to collect dust and lunar rocks, in particular by digging the ground to a depth of two meters, then returning them to Earth.

These samples could then help scientists better understand the history of the Moon.

This is the first attempt to bring back moon rocks since the uninhabited Luna 24 mission, successfully carried out by the former USSR in 1976.

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The Chinese probe is expected to land on the moon at the end of November.

The return of the samples to Earth should take place around early or mid-December.

This is not the first time that China has launched a device towards the Moon.

She has already landed two small remote-controlled robots (the "

") on the lunar soil during the Chang'e 3 (in 2013) and Chang'e 4 (started in 2018) missions.

The Asian giant is investing billions of euros in its space program, in order to catch up with Europe, Russia and the United States.

He sent his first astronaut into space in 2003, hopes to assemble a large space station by 2022 and intends to send men to the Moon within ten years.