China’s Chang’e-6 Spacecraft Landed on the Far Side of the Moon

SHOOTING DATE: June 2, 2024

1. Various images of Chang’e-6 landing on the far side of the Moon

2. Images from the launch of Chang’e-6 on May 3

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced that the Chang’e-6 rover landed on the far side of the Moon on Sunday morning. The vehicle will collect samples from this rarely explored region for the first time in human history.

The landing-takeoff combination of the Chang’e-6 rover successfully landed at the designated landing site in the South Pole-Aitken Basin at 06.23 Beijing time (01.23 UTC), with the support of the Queqiao-2 relay satellite.

Chang’e-6 consists of an orbiter, a return vehicle, a lander and a takeoff vehicle. Since its launch on May 3 this year, the vehicle has gone through various stages such as Earth-Moon transfer, near-lunar braking, lunar orbit and landing descent.

The lander-takeoff combination separated from the orbiter-return vehicle combination on May 30, CNSA said.

China launched the Chang’e-6 spacecraft to collect samples from the far side of the Moon and bring them to Earth. The mission represents the first of its kind in the history of human lunar exploration.

Xinhua News Agency reporters report from Beijing. (XHTV)