China Sets Peaceful Goals Of Lunar Exploration, Chang'e 5 Mission Spokesperson Says

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th November, 2020) China is pursuing peaceful goals in what concerns lunar exploration and is ready to cooperate with other countries in studying soil samples from the Moon, Pei Zhaoyu, a spokesperson of China's Chang'e 5 lunar return mission, said.

Earlier, a Sputnik correspondent reported that the Chang'e 5 lunar mission was successfully launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Center in Wenchang, in China's Hainan island province, using the Chinese heavy-lift launch vehicle Chang Zheng 5 (Long March 5). The launch took place at 04:30 local time on Tuesday (20:30 GMT on Monday).

Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) told journalists that in what concerns China's lunar exploration, China sets its own scientific and engineering goals but adheres "to the goals of peaceful development."

Pei Zhaoyu said that China would welcome the participation of scientists from other countries in studying the lunar samples it collects, if the Chang'e 5 lunar mission is successful.

"After receiving lunar soil samples, we will disclose to the international community how to handle the regolith samples and will conduct research in accordance with that," the spokesperson told journalists.

According to CNSA, the Chang Zheng 5 rocket successfully put the Chang'e 5 lunar research vehicle into the designated orbit about 2,200 seconds after the launch.

The Chang'e 5 lunar mission is China's first-ever sample return mission. If fully successful, it will become the first lunar sample return mission to be completed since 1976, when the Soviet Union carried out the Luna 24 robotic probe mission to the Moon.