Chang’e-5 Is on its Way to the Moon

At 4:30 AM local time, Nov. 24 (20:30 UTC Nov. 23), China’s heavy-lift Long March-5 rocket and the Chang’e-5 spacecraft lifted off from the Wenchuan base on Hainan Island to travel to the Moon. It is the most complex mission so far in China’s lunar program, requiring an orbiter, a lander, an ascent vehicle to rendezvous with the orbiter, a capsule to hold the lunar sample, and a return vehicle to transport the precious cargo to Earth. The goal of the mission is to bring at least 2 kilograms of rocks and soil from the Moon. There will also be a few locations where a drill will go down deeper, as much as 2 meters, and retrieve soil.