China plans to launch an uncrewed spacecraft to the moon, which will shovel up lunar rocks soil and return them to Earth.
If this undertaking turns out to be a success, it will be the first time any nation is recovering samples from the moon in more than four decades.
Reports on China's plan said the mission, titled Chang'e-5, is "part of a series of complex trips to the moon" by the CNSA or the China National Space Administration.
In January last year, a spacecraft was landed by China on the far side of the moon. This was something that had never taken place before.
If this new plan becomes a success, China will be just the third nation to ever have recovered samples from the moon, after the United States and the Soviet Union during the 1960s and 1970s decades.
A Long March 2F rocket carrying the country's first space laboratory module Tiangong-1 lifts off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.
Expected Spacecraft Launch
According to a site that's tracking lacking launches all over the world, expected launch for the said uncrewed spacecraft "from Wenchang Space Launch Center on Hainan Island, China," early Tuesday, which will be estimated at around 3:25 pm, ET on Monday.
As indicated in the Nature science journal, the spacecraft will retrieve roughly four pounds of surface material from the formerly unexplored region over the course of a single lunar day, equivalent to approximately 14 days, which will keep electronics from possibly impairing the extreme "overnight cold temperatures."
The samples then are most likely to be stored at the Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Sciences National Astronomical Observatory of China. It remains unclear if the samples will leave China for external research.
What Happens to Soon-to-Be-Retrieved Samples
The samples to be retrieved are essential as they could help scientists understand further volcanic activity on the moon, as well as when volcanoes were last active.
Meaning, the lunar rocks and soil could validate that volcanoes were active "billions of years more recently" compared to previously believed.
According to planetary geologist Xiao Long, from the China University of Geosciences in Wuhan, if what would happen to these soon-to-be-retrieved samples is true, "We will rewrite the history of the moon."
Meanwhile, NASA said, the samples would be brought back to Earth, parachuting into the Siziwang Banner grassland of Inner Mongolia's autonomous region in China, perhaps, sometime, early next month.
Original Schedule of Launch
The craft that's expected to take off, as mentioned, on November 24, was said to have its supposed original launch in 2017 but was delayed due to an engine failure in the Long March 5 launch rocket of China.
Also, as earlier mentioned, the mission of the Chang'e-5 is to collect dust and debris from previously unexplored regions of the near side of the moon and bring them to Earth.
According to the published plan, lunar scientists will be enthusiastic about examining new samples due to what they might discover about the evolution of the Moon.
More so, the material could help researchers as well, to more accurately date the planets' surfaces like Mercury and Mars, among others. University of Munster geologist Harald Hiesinger said the site of landing was "extremely wisely picked."
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