A Chinese lunar capsule has returned to Earth with the first new samples of rock and debris from the moon more than 40 years ago.

State media reported just after 2 a.m. local time that the Chang 5 investigation pill had landed in the Sichuan district of Inner Mongolia.

The capsule will initially detach from its orbiter module and perform a bounce from the Earth’s atmosphere, slowing it down and parachuting to the ground.

Two of the four modules of the Chang‌ 5 were placed on the moon on December 1, exploited from the surface, and two kilograms of samples were collected by digging two meters into the lunar crust.

Samples were deposited in a sealed container that was taken back to the ascending vehicle return module.

The successful mission was the latest breakthrough in China’s increasingly ambitious space program, including a robotic mission to Mars and a plan for a permanent orbiting space station.

Rescue teams have built helicopters and off-road vehicles on lunar spacecraft signals to detect snow-covered terrain in the far north of China, and China’s Shenzhou Crew has long been used as a landing site for spacecraft. .

In 1976, scientists discovered new samples of lunar rocks for the first time since the former Soviet Union’s Luna 24 robotic investigation.

Those rocks and debris are thought to be billions of years smaller than those acquired by the US and the former Soviet Union, giving new insights into the history of the Moon and other objects in the Solar System.

They come from a part of the moon known as Oceanus Procellerum, or Ocean Storm, near the site of Mons Rumker, which in ancient times was believed to be a volcano.

Like 382 kilograms of lunar samples brought by U.S. astronauts from 1969 to 1972, they will be analyzed for age and structure and shared with other countries.

Chang 5 exploded on November 23 from a launch pad in the southern Chinese province of Hainan.

Flying a Chinese flag, the lunar lander ceased operation immediately after being used as a launch pad for launch, was discharged from orbit after samples were delivered, and rested on the lunar surface.

It marked China’s third successful lunar landing, but the only one to rise again from the moon.

Chang’e 4, the space shuttle’s predecessor, was the first probe to land short distances from the moon, and is sending back information about possible conditions that could affect future human stay on the surface.

The moon is a special center of the Chinese space program, and it has been said that it intends to land humans there and build a permanent foundation. No timeline or other details have been announced.

China has also joined the effort to explore Mars. In July, Tianwen 1 launched an investigation that carried a lander and robotic rover to search for water.

China’s space program proceeded more cautiously than the US-Soviet space race of the 1960s, marking deaths and launch failures.

In 2003, China became the third country after the Soviet Union and the United States to send an astronaut into its own orbit.

The latest aircraft includes cooperation with the European Space Agency, which helped monitor the mission.

Amid concerns about the secrecy and military ties of the Chinese space program, the U.S. is blocking cooperation between NASA and CNSA unless Congress approves it.

This prevented China from participating in the International Space Station, seeking compensation by starting an experimental space station and planning to complete a permanent orbital post within the next two years.