The manoeuvre was part of the ambitious Chang'e-5 mission, named after a mythical Chinese Moon goddess, to bring back the first lunar samples in four decades. [Simulated image]
The ascent stage docked with a robot spacecraft orbiting the Moon at 5:42 am on Sunday , state media reported, citing the China National Space Administration. A capsule carrying the rock samples is due to land in China’s northern grasslands in the Inner Mongolia region in mid-December. They will be the first fresh samples of the lunar surface obtained by scientists since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 probe in 1976.
The CNSA released a photo taken by the orbiter showing the ascent stage rocket approaching for a rendezvous.
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