Lunar soil to be shown at National Museum

A sample of lunar soil brought back by China's Chang'e 5 mission late last year was added to the collection of the National Museum of China on Feb 22, and will be available for public viewing in March according to the Beijing-based museum.

The museum also revealed photos showing a specially-designed container to keep the soil for display. The synthetic quartz holder replicates zun, a supreme bronze wine vessel often used for grand ceremonies in the Shang (c.16th century-11th century BC) and Zhou (c.11th century-771 BC) dynasties. The soil will be placed in a hollow globe at the center of the holder.

The soil was among lunar samples retrieved by a 23-day robotic mission. Chang'e 5 was launched from Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province on Nov 24, and landed on the moon on Dec 1.