Chinese spacecraft brings first lunar samples in last 40 years

China's Chang'e-5 probe successfully returned to Earth on Thursday, bringing home the first lunar samples in over 40 years. The probe was launched from the Wenchang Spacecraft launch site on November 24.

The probe has collected material at different sites to ensure the diversity of the samples.

Inspite of the earlier samples by US and Soviet missions, scientists needed more samples of different ages to piece together a complete history of the moon. Using modern analytical technologies, scientists will be able to unravel the mysteries of volcanic activities and meteorite impacts over the past billion years, the report said.

"China will make some of the samples available to scientists in other countries. We hope to cooperate with other countries to build the international lunar scientific research station, which could provide a shared platform for lunar scientific exploration and technological experiments," Pei Zhaoyu, deputy director of CNSA said.