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On 1 December 2020, China’s Chang’e-5 spacecraft touched down near Mons ��ü������, an inactive volcano that sits within the Oceanus Procellarum, a vast “sea,” or mare, of dark, hardened lava called basalt.

The country’s Chang’e-5 spacecraft gathered as much as 4.4 pounds of lunar samples from a volcanic plain known as Mons ��ü������ in a three-week operation that underlined China’s growing prowess and ambition in space.

Looking at the mineralogy of the rocks and soils near Mons ��ü������ could help reveal why the region has an unusual and unexplained concentration of certain elements—potassium, rare earth elements, and phosphorus—and a strong radioactive anomaly driven by the elements thorium and uranium.

The spacecraft will then release a lander that will touch down near a volcanic mound called Mons ��ü������ in the northwest region of the lunar near side.

China launched its Chang’e-5 mission on Nov. 24, and its lander touched down Dec. 1 near Mons ��ü������, a volcanic mound on the near side of the moon.