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China plants its flag on moon as lunar probe heads back

05 Dec 2020

China has become the second country in history to put its flag on the moon, more than 50 years after the US first planted the its flag, the Guardian reported. Pictures from the country’s National Space Administration show the five-starred Red Flag holding still on the windless lunar surface. The images were taken by a camera on the Chang’e-5 space probe, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, before it left the moon on Thursday to return to Earth. The space probe also brought the first samples of lunar rock to be collected in four decades. China has poured billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of having a crewed space station by 2022 and eventually sending humans to the moon. The Chang’e-5 spacecraft left the surface at 11.10pm Beijing time (3.10pm GMT), said the state broadcaster CCTV, as mission engineers watching control screens applauded at length. A module carrying lunar rocks and soil was in orbit after activating a powerful thrust engine, Chinese officials said of the mission, which was launched from China’s southern Hainan province.


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