China has announced that its lunar probe has successfully flown from the far side of the Moon to begin its journey to Earth. It brings with it the first samples collected from that part of the Moon. This is reported by the BBC.
Chanye-6, named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology, successfully lifted off at 07:38 am local time to begin its return journey.
The lunar probe landed near the moon’s south pole on June 2, becoming the world’s first such mission.
The BBC notes that China is the only country to have landed on the far side of the moon. Beijing did this in 2019 as well.
The China National Space Administration called the mission “an unprecedented feat in human lunar exploration.”
The far side of the moon is technically difficult to reach due to the rugged terrain and deep craters.
China’s mission aims to be the first to bring rock and soil samples from that part of the moon back to Earth, which scientists say could be very different from samples collected on this side of the moon.
It is planned that the Chinese lunar probe will land on Earth in 3 weeks.
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