In December 2020 China's Chang'e-5 spacecraft landed on the Moon, collected approximately 1.73 kg of lunar samples, and returned them to Earth — the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Luna 24 in 1976. The achievement demonstrated China's advanced capabilities in robotic space exploration. The mission reignited public and scientific interest in the Moon as a subject for both research and poetic imagination.

The Chinese Chang'e-5 mission in 2020, which returned lunar samples, has renewed global lunar mythology and exploration verse. Poets are drawing on the imagery of the Moon, weaving together themes of discovery and the human spirit's yearning for the stars, reminiscent of earlier lunar poetry that celebrated celestial exploration.