China’s Chang’e-6 Mission Returns with Samples from the Moon’s Far Side
China’s Chang’e-6 mission has successfully returned to Earth with lunar soil samples, making China the first nation to bring back material from the moon’s far side. The Chinese National Space Administration’s lander returned after 53 days, carrying the samples in a capsule.
Launched on May 3, the Chang’e-6 mission aimed to explore and collect samples from the moon’s far side, which is perpetually out of view from Earth. According to The New York Times, this mission is a step towards China’s broader goal of sending humans to the moon by 2030.
Historically, all ten lunar missions, including those by India and the United States, have landed on the near side of the moon. By retrieving samples from the far side, China has upped the stakes in the space race, presenting a significant challenge to the United States.
The Chang’e-6 re-entry module landed in northern China at 11:30 am, as reported by CNN. A recovery team quickly retrieved the capsule, and Chinese scientists confirmed the mission’s success. President Xi Jinping hailed the mission as a milestone, bringing China closer to its goal of becoming a major space power. China also aims to establish a research base on the moon’s south pole by 2030.
The Chang’e-6 mission brought back 2 kg of lunar soil, extracted using drills and robotic arms from a 4-billion-year-old crater. This sample will be analyzed to gain insights into the moon’s, Earth’s, and the solar system’s formation. China plans to share its findings with the international scientific community.
Launched from the Wenchang Space Site aboard a Long March 5 rocket, the Chang’e-6 mission targeted the South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the moon’s largest and most scientifically valuable regions. The mission also carried payloads from Pakistan, France, Italy, and the European Space Agency to foster international cooperation in space exploration.
The far side of the moon, often referred to as the dark side, is the hemisphere that faces away from Earth and remains largely unexplored. To improve communication with this remote area, China plans to launch the Queqiao-2 (Magpie Bridge-2) relay satellite in early 2024.
China’s lunar exploration program began in 2004, with the Chang’e-5 mission in December 2020 successfully bringing back 1,731 grams of lunar rocks and soil. The Chang’e-4 mission in 2019 marked the first landing on the moon’s far side, with its rover, Yutu 2, becoming the longest-running lunar rover, operating for about five years.
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