Chinese capsule with lunar rocks begins to return to Earth

The mission landed on the moon earlier this month and collected around 2 kg of samples.

A Chinese space capsule that brought back the first lunar rocks in more than four decades has begun its return to Earth.

The Chang’e 5 lunar probe left the moon’s orbit on the morning of December 13, firing four engines for about 22 minutes, the China National Space Administration said in a post on social media.

The mission landed on the Moon earlier this month and collected about 2 kg of samples.

The return capsule is expected to land in northern China in the Inner Mongolia region after a three-day journey.

The material would be the first to return from the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 probe in 1976.

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