America hoisted its flag on the moon's surface as a part of its Apollo 11 mission. That was fifty-one years earlier, and China becomes the second country to do the same. It is making rapid strides in space-related activities, and China could overtake stalwarts like America and Russia in this specialized field. The performance is a creditable one considering its late entry in the field of space research and travel.

In January 2019, China landed a robot on the moon's dark side to explore new areas. Missions of this nature rely heavily on a combination of artificial intelligence, robotics, and Renewable Energy.

The Chang'e 5 lander of the current mission unfurled the Chinese flag before leaving the lunar surface. The ascent module will dock with the orbiter and service module and make its return journey to Earth with a load of moon rock after. A detailed study of these samples would help understand the moon's construction and provide an insight into its natural resources.

The Chang'e 5 return will depend on a suitable time window, and the journey back would take three days. Until such time, it would keep circling the moon. The landing could be between December somewhere in Inner Mongolia, and scientists of China and the whole world would be eager to know more about the prized possessions. They have already studied previous samples brought by America and Russia, and the ones brought by China would add to the knowledge bank.

The flag of China flies on the moon

Designing the flag was a time-consuming activity, and it took Chinese scientists a year to get it right. The material had to meet the strict parameters set because it was not for an ordinary flag but had to withstand the test of time. The harsh weather on the alien surface was a challenge, and the fabric had to survive in extreme atmospheric conditions.

The flag made out of any ordinary material might decompose and lose its color. These could happen because of the fluctuation of the day and night temperatures on the moon's surface. Therefore, it was necessary to take into account these and similar factors while finalizing the design.

China used robotics to unfurl the flag

The Chinese flag's weight on the moon and the entire configuration that holds it up is less than 2.2lbs (one kg).

Since the Chang'e 5 is an unmanned mission, a robotic arm did all the activities. NASA left behind several flags on the moon during its earlier missions, and these would have lost color or even disintegrated due to the severe atmospheric conditions. Chang'e 5 launched from the Wenchang Space Center on the southern island province of Hainan. It is the third robotic spacecraft China has sent to the moon. Incidentally, the initial plan for collecting rocks was for two hours, but it went on for 19 hours.

China collected lunar soil and rock samples

China has unfurled its national flag on the moon and collected lunar soil and rock samples in an exercise that took 19 hours after a smooth, soft landing.

The Chang'e-5 ascender of China subsequently packed the moon rock and other samples and left the alien surface.

The China National Space Administration confirms this. With this mission, China can claim to have occupied space on the moon ahead of America or Russia. It has surged ahead of the United States, which plans to undertake its moon mission in 2024. It would be the Artemis mission, and it envisages a team of astronauts who would arrive to carry out specific activities. One of them would be a woman. The first man on the moon was an American, and if the work proceeds as per plan, the first woman could be another American. The United States lost the moon's initiative by focusing its attention on other areas like the International Space Station and the red planet Mars.
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