Science News Roundup: Massive Puerto Rico telescope featured in James Bond movie collapses; Australian telescope maps deep space at record speed and more

China successfully lands spacecraft on moon to retrieve lunar rocks China successfully landed a spacecraft on the moon's surface on Tuesday in a historic mission to retrieve lunar surface samples, Chinese state media reported.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Australian telescope maps deep space at record speed

A powerful new telescope in outback Australia has mapped vast areas of the universe in record-breaking time, revealing a million new galaxies and opening the way to new discoveries, the country's national science agency said on Tuesday. The A$188 million ($138 million) radio telescope, dubbed the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP), was able to map about three million galaxies in just 300 hours. Comparable surveys of the sky have taken as long as 10 years.

Massive Puerto Rico telescope featured in James Bond movie collapses

A massive radio telescope at Puerto Rico's Arecibo Observatory - one of the world's largest - collapsed on Tuesday after sustaining severe damage since August, officials said, following 57 years of astronomical discoveries. The deteriorating telescope's 900-ton instrument platform, suspended by cables 450 feet (137 meters) above a 1,000-foot-wide (305 meters) bowl-shaped reflector dish, fell on Tuesday morning, the U.S. National Science Foundation said.

No injuries were reported, it added. China successfully lands spacecraft on moon to retrieve lunar rocks

China successfully landed a spacecraft on the moon's surface on Tuesday in a historic mission to retrieve lunar surface samples, Chinese state media reported. China launched its Chang'e-5 probe on Nov. 24. The uncrewed mission, named after the mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, aims to collect lunar material to help scientists learn more about the moon's origins.

Bezos' Blue Origin taps former Pentagon, NASA officials for new advisory board

Blue Origin said on Tuesday it formed a new advisory board of former Pentagon and NASA officials, as billionaire Jeff Bezos' space company vies for lucrative government contracts and readies its first orbital rocket for debut next year. The seven-person board will "provide strategic counsel on the company's mission to radically reduce the cost of access to space and the utilization of in-space resources," the Kent, Washington-based company said in a press release.

(With inputs from agencies.)