China capsule carrying samples lifts off from moon

A Chinese spacecraft lifted off from the moon Thursday night with a cargo of lunar rocks, beginning the first stage of its return to Earth. Chang'e 5, the third Chinese spacecraft to land on the moon and the first to take off from it again, is the latest in a series of increasingly ambitious Chinese space missions. The country also has an orbiter and rover headed to Mars.

The Chang'e 5 touched down Tuesday on the Sea of Storms on the near side of the moon. Its mission was to collect about two kilograms (four pounds) of lunar rocks and bring them back to Earth, the first such feat since American and Soviet spacecraft did so in the late 1960s and 1970s. The landing site was near a formation called the Mons Rumker and may contain rocks billions of years younger than those retrieved earlier.

The moon rocks and debris were sealed inside a special canister to avoid contamination. The ascent vehicle lifted off from the moon shortly after 11 p.m. Beijing time Thursday (1500 GMT) and was due to rendezvous with a return vehicle in lunar orbit, then transfer the samples to a capsule, according to the China National Space Administration. After the transfer, the ascent module would be ejected and the capsule would remain in lunar orbit for about a week, awaiting the optimal time to make the trip back to Earth.