Chinese spacecraft landed on the far side of the Moon to collect samples

An uncrewed Chinese spacecraft landed on the far side of the Moon on Sunday, June 2, according to the Chinese space agency, marking its second mission to a lunar region where no other country has landed, in the midst of a growing international rivalry over space exploration.

If successful, it will be the first mission in history to collect samples from the far side of the Moon.

The China National Space Administration sent the Chang’e 6 lunar probe to collect rocks and other materials near and around an impact crater called the Apollo Basin, which is part of the Moon’s larger South Pole-Aitken Basin, according to the agency. country’s official news, Xinhua.

Chang’e 6 landed at 6:23 a.m. local time after being launched into space on May 3, 2024 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the southern island of Hainan. In Chinese mythology, Chang’e is the goddess of the Moon.

China, the United States, Japan, India and Russia have all invested heavily in space exploration in recent years, crowding a field that throughout history has been touted as a symbol of national power and progress.

For China and the United States, in particular, rivalry over scientific frontiers in space is intensifying; Both nations are aiming for the accolade of having sent humans to the Moon for the second time in history, with the United States planning to do so as early as 2026 and China planning the same by 2030. (The United States was the first country to land on the Moon with the Apollo mission 11 in 1969).

The probe was launched from the launch pad of the Wenchang Space Launch Center in China’s Hainan province on May 3, 2024.

The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that always faces away from the Earth. The word “dark” does not refer to the lack of light, but to the fact that scientists know very little about this hemisphere.

Apollo 8 astronauts were the first to see the dark side in 1968, and Chang’e 4 made the first-ever landing there in January 2019.

Communications are more difficult on the far side because radio waves are blocked by thick, solid rocks, forcing scientists to use a relay satellite to send signals to the spacecraft and to work with a shorter window for sample collection. The rugged terrain also makes landing difficult.

Chang’e 6 is expected to take about 15 hours to collect the samples. To fit that short timeline, CNSA scientists developed the spacecraft to make autonomous decisions by executing fewer commands than in previous missions, according to Xinhua.

The goal of the mission is to develop key sampling technology, as well as takeoff and ascent capabilities from the far side of the Moon, Xinhua added.