China is the third country to obtain a sample of moon soil

The Chinese space probe has landed in Inner Mongolia in northern China. Reuters

The Chinese National Space Administration stated that the Chinese space probe "Chang-A-5" brought samples of lunar surface soil weighing about 1731 grams.

The samples were transferred to Chinese research teams this Saturday morning, according to the new China News Agency, "Xinhua".

Scientists will store, analyze and search the first samples the country obtains from an extraterrestrial body.

And Chinese state television had reported early Thursday morning that the Chinese space probe had landed in a plains in Inner Mongolia in northern China.

With this mission, China becomes the third country to bring samples from the moon to Earth, after the United States and the former Soviet Union, and this is the first time in 44 years that samples of the moon's soil and rocks have been obtained to Earth.

The return of the probe represents the last station in a mission that lasted 23 days, and included the landing of the spacecraft on the surface of the moon, collecting samples of soil and rocks, ascent and docking with a vehicle orbiting around the moon, and finally making the return trip to Earth, which lasted for four days.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the US Apollo missions brought 380 kilograms of lunar rocks to Earth, while the former Soviet Union brought about 300 grams of soil on unmanned missions.

"Chang E5" is part of an ambitious Chinese space program, which also includes building a space station by 2022 and sending an exploration mission to Jupiter by 2029.

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