China has successfully launched a mission to retrieve rock and soil samples from the far side of the moon, marking a significant milestone in their lunar exploration program. The Chang’e-6 spacecraft was launched on May 3 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan, and the mission is expected to last nearly two months. The spacecraft is tasked with landing in the South Pole-Aitken Basin and retrieving samples, which could provide valuable information about the geological age and history of the moon.
The Chang’e-6 mission is part of China’s ambitious space exploration program, which has already achieved significant milestones such as the first unmanned moon landing on the far side in 2018 and the first lunar sample retrieval in 44 years in 2020. This mission is particularly noteworthy as it aims to retrieve samples from the far side of the moon, which has not been explored by any other country.
The launch was attended by scientists, diplomats, and space agency officials from various countries, including France, Italy, Pakistan, and the European Space Agency (ESA). However, no U.S. organizations applied to have payloads on the mission due to a U.S. law that bans collaboration with the Chinese space agency.
The Chang’e-6 probe is expected to reach the moon’s orbit in four to five days and land in early June. Once on the moon, the probe will spend two days collecting 2 kilograms of samples before returning to Earth, where it is expected to land in Inner Mongolia.
This mission is part of a long-term project to build a permanent research station on the moon, known as the China and Russia-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). The construction of such a station would provide an outpost for China and its partners to pursue deep space exploration and research the moon’s resources.
The samples brought back by the Chang’e-5 mission in 2020 allowed Chinese scientists to uncover new details about the moon, including more accurate dating of the timespan of volcanic activity and the discovery of a new mineral. The Chang’e-6 mission is expected to provide even more valuable data about the moon’s history and potential resources.