Beijing (AFP)

This is the first mission of its kind since that carried out by the former USSR in 1976: China on Tuesday launched a probe to the Moon intended to collect rock samples and bring them back to Earth.

This ambitious operation will also allow the Asian giant to test new technologies, crucial to sending astronauts to the lunar star as it wishes by 2030.

The probe was propelled "successfully" by a Long-March 5 rocket at 4:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. GMT Monday) from the Wenchang space center, on the island of Hainan (south), according to the Chinese space agency (CNSA ).

This Chang'e 5 mission is the next step in the Chinese space program, which struck a big blow in early 2019 by landing a machine on the far side of the Moon, a world first.

The probe sent on Tuesday aims to collect around 2 kg of moon rocks, in particular by digging the ground up to two meters deep.

These samples will be taken from a much younger geological area than during previous Soviet and American missions.

They should make it possible to add additional pieces to the great puzzle of the history of the Moon.

"Chinese scientists and scientists from other countries will all have the opportunity to obtain the lunar samples brought back by Chang'e 5 for research," promised Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the exploration body. lunar at the CNSA.

"China also intends to take advantage of this mission to refine the technologies required for future manned lunar missions," said Chen Lan, analyst for the GoTaikonauts.com site, specializing in the Chinese space program.

"This is one more step towards Chinese people on the moon."

- "Quite difficult" -

Chang'e 5 is the first attempt to bring back moon rocks since the uninhabited Luna 24 mission, successfully carried out by the former USSR in 1976.

The United States also brought back samples during the manned Apollo 17 mission (1972), but these had been collected directly by the astronauts.

The Chang'e 5 probe sent on Tuesday weighs 8.2 tonnes.

It consists of four parts: an orbiter (which will remain in lunar orbit), a lander (which will land on the Moon), an ascent module (from the ground to the lunar orbit) and a return capsule (to the Earth).

Chang'e 5 will land near Mons Rümker, a mountain range at an altitude of over 1,000 meters.

Unlike the Soviet program, where the probe made the Moon-Earth path directly after collecting samples, China will use a much more difficult method.

The rocks will first be placed in the ascent module (which will have to regain lunar orbit) before being transferred to the capsule back to Earth.

"It is probably the need to improve manned mission technologies that have prompted Chinese engineers to adopt such a complicated, if not unnecessary, approach," notes Chen Lan.

"This has never been done before and it is indeed quite difficult," notes Jonathan McDowell, astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in the United States.

But if successful, "China's robotic sample return system will become the most flexible and efficient," he said.

- Back in December -

The probe is expected to land on the Moon in late November.

The return of the rocks to Earth should take place in early or mid-December.

This is not the first time that China has launched a device towards the lunar star as part of the Chang'e program - named after a moon goddess according to Chinese mythology.

She has already landed two small remote-controlled robots (the "Jade Rabbits") in 2013 and 2019.

The launch of Chang'e 5 was initially planned for 2017. But the failure in the same year of a firing of the Long-March 5 rocket, essential to the propulsion of the probe, had led to its postponement.

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

She sent her first astronaut to space in 2003.

The Asian giant has also just completed in June the constellation of its navigation system Beidou, rival of the American GPS.

He also plans to assemble a large space station by 2022.

© 2020 AFP