Capsule returns to Earth carrying moon rocks

BEIJING » A Chinese lunar capsule returned to Earth Thursday with the first fresh samples of rock and debris fromthe moon in more than 40 years.

The capsule of the Chang’e 5 probe landed in the Siziwang district of the Inner Mongolia region, state media reported shortly after 2:00 a.m.

The capsule earlier separated from its orbiter module and performed a bounce off the Earth’s atmosphere to reduce its speed before passing through and floating to the ground on parachutes. Two of the Chang’e 5’s four modules set down on the moon on Dec. 1 and collected about 4.4 pounds of samples by scooping them from the surface and by drilling about 6 feet into the moon’s crust.