- Chang’e-6 returns after collecting lunar soil and rocks
- China’s probe lands in Inner Mongolia on June 25
- Mission includes first lunar far side sample retrieval
According to officials, the investigation was successful in collecting soil and rocks, as well as in displaying the Chinese flag. The Chang’e-6 is scheduled to return to its berth on June 25.
After becoming the first probe to retrieve samples from the moon’s far side, a Chinese spacecraft is currently en route to Earth.
The China National Space Administration reported that the Chang’e-6 embarked on its return journey shortly after 12.30 a.m. UK time on Tuesday.
According to officials, the operation effectively collected soil and rocks using a robotic arm and drill to excavate beneath the lunar surface.
Following the completion of the assignment, the investigation revealed a Chinese flag.
“Mission accomplished!” wrote Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying on X, previously known as Twitter.
An unprecedented achievement in the annals of human lunar exploration!
The spacecraft was launched last month and landed on Sunday.
On June 25, the re-entry spacecraft is scheduled to land in the deserts of the Inner Mongolia region of China.
Missions to the moon’s far side, which is perpetually oriented away from the Earth, are more challenging due to the necessity of a relay satellite to ensure communication.
The surface is also more rugged, with fewer level areas for landing.
According to China’s Xinhua News Agency, the landing site was the South Pole-Aitken Basin, an impact crater believed to have been formed over four billion years ago. The crater is eight miles deep and 1,500 miles wide.
It is the earliest and largest crater of its kind on the moon. It could yield valuable information due to the possibility that the initial impact ejected materials from beneath its surface.
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The Chang’e moon exploration program, named after a Chinese lunar goddess, is currently on its sixth mission.
Chang’e-4, China’s first successful landing on the moon’s far side in 2019, is also making its second journey to the moon.
The mission coincides with an intensifying competition in the space sector among the United States, China, India, and Japan.
Beijing intends to place an individual on the moon by 2030, while NASA, the United States space agency, anticipates accomplishing the same endeavour in September 2026.
