China’s Chang’e-6 probe brings back first-ever samples from Moon’s far side
Beijing: China’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe module returned to Earth on Tuesday, completing its historic mission to collect the first-ever samples from the Moon’s unexplored far side, in a major step forward for the country’s ambitious space programme.
The return capsule landed precisely in the designated area in Siziwang Banner, north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 2:07 pm (Beijing Time), operating normally, and “the mission is a complete success,” China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced.
Chinese President Xi Jinping extended congratulations on the complete success of the Chang’e-6 mission, said state-run Xinhua news agency.
China’s probe was the first to reach and collect samples from the far side of the moon.
The development came after India in August 2023 became the first country to land near the little-explored lunar South Pole region when its Chandrayaan-3’s lander, carrying the Pragyaan rover, successfully landed there.
China is the only country to have landed on the far side of the Moon, having done so before in 2019. The far side - which faces away from Earth - is technically challenging to reach due to its distance, giant craters and few flat surfaces.
In his congratulatory message, Xi noted that Chang’e-6, for the first time in human history, collected samples from the moon’s far side and returned to Earth, marking another landmark achievement in China’s endeavour to build a strong country in space as well as in science and technology.
He called for meticulous research on the lunar samples, the continued implementation of the country’s major space projects, including deep space exploration, and the enhancement of international exchanges and cooperation.
He also urged efforts to make new contributions to revealing the mysteries of the universe, to promoting the well-being of humanity, and to building a great country and advancing national rejuvenation on all fronts through Chinese modernisation.
The re-entry module will be airlifted to Beijing for opening, and the lunar samples will be transferred to a team of scientists for subsequent storage, analysis and study, said the CNSA.
The Chang’e-6 probe is expected to have returned to Earth with up to two kilogrammes of moon dust and rocks from the lunar far side, which will be analysed by Chinese researchers before being opened for access by international scientists, it said.
The Chang’e lunar exploration probe is named after the Chinese mythical moon goddess.
Consisting of an orbiter, a returner, a lander and an ascender, Chang’e-6 was launched on May 3 this year. Supported by the Queqiao-2 relay satellite, placed earlier, the lander-ascender combination landed at the designated landing area in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin on the far side of the moon on June 2 and carried out sampling work.
On June 4, the ascender took off from the moon with samples and entered the lunar orbit while on June 6, it completed rendezvous and docking with the orbiter-returner combination and transferred samples to the
returner.
