China carries out first-ever lunar orbit docking, now heading back to Earth

China has carried out its first-ever lunar orbit docking today with a probe carrying lunar samples collected over the past week during a 48 hour stay on the Moon. The mission is named Chang’e-5, after a mythical Chinese Moon goddess, and is bringing back the first lunar soil samples in over 40 years.

The capsule carrying moon rocks and soil lifted off from the lunar surface last Thursday and docked this morning with the orbiter, according to the country’s state media and China National Space Administration.

The cargo capsule also marked the first liftoff from an extraterrestrial body by a Chinese-owned craft. The capsule transferred the moon samples to the orbiter which separated to make the long journey back to Earth.

The venture has zeroed-in on Mons Rümker, a volcanic complex in a nearside region known as Oceanus Procellarum. The region faces the Earth – the same face that is…