China has successfully launched Chang'e 5, a highly ambitious and incredibly complex robotic lunar sample return mission.



If successful, this will be the first time lunar material has been brought back to Earth since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 mission in 1976. The spacecraft aims to land in the Mons Rümker region of the Oceanus Procellarum, an area believed to contain much younger volcanic rocks than those collected during the Apollo era. Studying these samples could drastically alter our understanding of how long the Moon remained volcanically active. The pace of China's lunar programme is truly impressive.