歷時23天，嫦娥五號勝利採樣歸來，帶著月球「土特產」順利回家。落地不到20小時的嫦娥五號返回器回到了它的「娘家」——中國航天科技集團五院，受到了「娘家人」的熱烈歡迎。
中國日報
「五姑娘」回到北京「娘家」！月球樣品容器將取出
視頻號
嫦娥五號的順利歸來吸引了世界的目光，全球為之震撼，引來外媒爭相報導。
外國科學家驚喜：「中國撈到寶了 」
在萬眾矚目之下，嫦娥五號攜帶來自月球的巖石和土壤返回地球後，國際同行發來了問候。
據美國廣播公司報導，美國華盛頓大學麥克唐奈空間科學中心主任布拉德·喬利夫（Brad Jolliff）在一封電子郵件中寫道：
這些樣本的年齡將有助於填補大約10億年至30億年前月球歷史知識的空白。它們還可能提供關於月球上是否有經濟上可用資源的線索，如濃縮的氫氣和氧氣。
The age of the samples will help fill in a gap in knowledge about the history of the Moon between roughly 1 billion and 3 billion years ago. They may also yield clues as to the availability of economically useful resources on the Moon such as concentrated hydrogen and oxygen.
喬利夫說道：「這些樣本將是一個寶庫！」
"These samples will be a treasure trove," Mr Jolliff said.
緊接著，喬利夫說：「我向我們的中國同行致敬，因為他們執行了一項非常艱巨的任務；對樣本進行分析所取得的科學成果將持續影響許多年，希望國際科學界也能參與進來。」
My hat is off to our Chinese colleagues for pulling off a very difficult mission; the science that will flow from analysis of the returned samples will be a legacy that will last for many, many years, and hopefully will involve the international community of scientists.
此外，據英國廣播公司（BBC）報導，這些樣本還將使科學家們能夠更精確地校準他們用來測定太陽系內行星表面年齡的「天文鐘」。
The samples will also allow scientists to more precisely calibrate the "chronometer" they use to age surfaces on the inner Solar System planets.
美國科學家擔憂：
當初拒絕與中國合作，
如今怎麼辦？
當地時間12月17日，《紐約時報》以「嫦娥五號攜月球樣本返回地球，太空競賽新時代來臨」為題報導了嫦娥五號勝利採樣歸來的消息。
《紐約時報》認為中國探月工程的六戰六捷使人類太空探索進入了一個不同的時代。
《紐約時報》的內容全文充滿了擔憂。一方面《紐約時報》擔心中國探月對美國構成挑戰；另一方面，因為美國曾經出臺法律限制中美在該領域的合作，所以又擔心美國沒有機會分享中國的探月成果。
儘管《紐約時報》試圖描述一個野心勃勃的中國，但中國的表態讓他們失望了，北京方面沒有「發表某種宣言性聲明表示希望取代美國成為太空領導者」。
Beijing has not "staked out some sort of declarative statement where they want to replace the United States as leader in space," said Brendan Curry, chief of Washington, D.C. operations at the Planetary Society.
《紐約時報》坦言，儘管美國重返月球的計劃一變再變，但是不得不承認，中國始終有一個自己的長期發展規劃和節奏，從未受過美國的影響。
中國嫦娥探月工程於21世紀初開始，當時美國總統喬治·W·布希(George W. Bush)宣布，NASA太空人將在2020年前重返月球。當歐巴馬政府取消月球計劃，重點關注諸如小行星和火星等更遙遠的目的地時， 中國仍堅持著原來的路線。The development of the Chang'e probes started in the early 2000s when President George W. Bush declared that NASA astronauts would return to the moon by 2020. It continued that path when the Obama administration canceled that moon program and focused on more distant destinations like an asteroid and Mars.即使川普政府鼓吹要重返月球，中國也沒有表現出要加緊實施在本世紀30年代將中國太空人送上月球的計劃。如果NASA太空人提前到達，中國似乎也並不急於搶在他們前頭。And even as the Trump administration touted a return to the moon, China has shown no urgency to accelerate its plans of sending Chinese astronauts to the moon in the 2030s. If NASA astronauts arrive earlier, China seems to be in no rush to beat them.
文章提到，其實人們希望中美能夠建立合作，但同時也明白這條路被美方堵死了：美國國會通過條款限制NASA與中國航天的往來合作。
人們希望中美之間的競爭可以轉為合作。但是，目前NASA與中國航天局或中資公司的直接合作受到限制。Some hope that a competition between China and the United States could change to cooperation. But NASA is currently limited from directly working with the Chinese space agency or Chinese-owned companies.該限制於2011年由當時的維吉尼亞州共和黨議員弗蘭克·沃爾夫(Frank Wolf)納入管理NASA經費的法律中......Some hope that a competition between China and the United States could change to cooperation. But NASA is currently limited from directly working with the Chinese space agency or Chinese-owned companies. That provision was inserted in 2011 into the law financing NASA by Frank Wolf, then a Republican congressman from Virginia...
而這則條款如今可能會直接帶來美國在科研領域的巨大損失。《紐約時報》報導稱，對此美國科學家頗為失落。
The restrictions...will also be a disappointment for many scientists in the United States in the years to come.
美國聖母大學（University of Notre Dame）土木工程和地質科學教授克萊夫·R·尼爾（Clive R. Neal）對美國不抱期待，悲觀且失望地寫道：
「它們（嫦娥五號勝利採樣歸來）代表著月球歷史上一個完全不同的時代，肯定能幫助我們了解月球的演變，」聖母大學土木工程和地質科學教授克萊夫·R·尼爾寫道，他說自己很樂意得到研究這些新樣本的機會。"They represent a completely different era of lunar history and will definitely help in our quest to understand the evolution of our moon," wrote Clive R. Neal, a professor of civil engineering and geological sciences at the University of Notre Dame who said he would love a chance to examine the new samples.「可惜，」尼爾在郵件中補充道，「我認為這是不可能的了。」"Alas," Dr. Neal added in his email, "I don't think this is possible."這句話後面接了一個悲傷的表情符號。That was followed by a sad face emoticon.