On Sunday, China made history by landing an unmanned spacecraft on the moon’s far side, marking a significant milestone in lunar exploration, according to China’s space agency. The mission’s objective is to collect rock and soil samples from the moon’s surface.
This achievement enhances China’s standing as a space power amid a global race to the moon. Various countries, including the US, are eager to harness lunar minerals to support extended astronaut missions and establish moon bases.
The Chang’e-6 spacecraft successfully touched down in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the moon’s far side at 6:23 a.m. Beijing time (2223 GMT), as reported by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on their website.
The CNSA stated that the Chang’e-6 mission is the first of its kind to undertake human sampling and return from the moon’s far side. The mission is fraught with engineering challenges, high risks, and significant difficulty.
The payloads onboard the Chang’e-6 lander will function as planned and execute scientific exploration missions, confirmed the CNSA.
This successful mission marks China’s second landing on the moon’s far side, a region where no other country has managed to land. The moon’s far side constantly faces away from the Earth, making communication difficult.
The Chang’e-6 probe landed roughly a month after it was launched by a Chinese Long March-5 rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center located on the southern island of Hainan.
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