History will remember that it was in the midst of a global pandemic that China left to land its first piece of the moon.
On Monday, November 23 at 9:30 p.m. (French time), a powerful Long March 5 rocket took off from the Wenchang space center, on the island of Hainan, to put a complex vessel weighing more than 8 tons into orbit.
Objective: to bring soil and rock samples back to Earth around mid-December.
This Chang'e 5 mission is a kind of scale model, and without an astronaut, of the Apollo missions.
After 4 to 5 days of crossing, the spaceship made up of several blocks will orbit around our satellite.
Close overflights of the landing zone, located north-west of the visible face, near the Mons Rümker mountain range, are planned before a moon landing which could occur on Sunday evening.
Once is not custom, the takeoff of the rocket, however critical moment, was broadcast on television Monday, suggesting that it will be.
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