Astronomy Cast Ep. 791: Chang'e Sample Return

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa1p6AOfQBc

Hosted by: Fraser Cain (@frasercain) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (@CosmoQuest)

Streamed live on Apr 20, 2026.

Last week we talked about samples from other worlds delivered to Earth by meteorites. But sometimes you've gotta do the job yourself. Visit the far off place and bring the samples home. And today we're gonna talk about China's Chang'e sample return program. How they've delivered rocks from different parts of the Moon, and how this sets the stage for their upcoming human lunar missions. 

 

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