Chang’e-6 Mission: China’s Historic Journey to the Moon’s Far Side

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The Chang’e-6 mission marks a significant milestone in China’s space exploration efforts as they aim to bring back soil and rock samples from the Moon’s far side. The China National Space Administration announced that the spacecraft successfully landed and began its journey back to Earth with the precious samples. The probe lifted off from the lunar surface after stowing the samples in a container inside the ascender of the probe. The re-entry capsule is scheduled to return to Earth in the deserts of China’s Inner Mongolia region around June 25.

The Chang’e-6 mission, part of the lunar exploration programme named after a Chinese moon goddess, landed in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, a massive impact crater on the moon’s far side. This basin, created over four billion years ago, is 13 kilometers deep and has a diameter of 2,500 kilometers, making it the oldest and largest of its kind on the moon. The probe’s landing in this significant location could provide valuable insights into the moon’s early history and composition.

With China now having two successful missions to retrieve samples from the moon – Chang’e-5 from the near side in 2020 and Chang’e-6 from the far side, the country is setting challenging goals in space exploration. The Chang’e mission series, which includes increasingly complex and ambitious missions over the years, is part of China’s aspirations to establish a strong presence in space. China’s ultimate goal includes landing a person on the moon before 2030, aiming to become the second nation, after the US, to achieve this feat.

The Chang’e-6 mission will not only provide scientists with valuable materials to study the moon’s history and evolution but also shed light on the differences between the moon’s near and far sides. The returned samples will undergo thorough analysis, offering insights into the geological composition and potential resources present on the moon. The successful completion of the Chang’e-6 mission further paves the way for future missions, with Chang’e 7 planned to assess the resource potential of the moon’s south polar region in 2026, followed by Chang’e 8 testing ways to utilize lunar resources in future endeavors.

China’s lunar exploration efforts are part of a growing rivalry in space exploration, with countries like the US, Japan, and India also making significant strides in their respective programs. While the US plans to land astronauts on the moon again by 2026, China’s ambitious goals for crewed missions and establishing an astronaut outpost near the moon’s south pole highlight the nation’s dedication to space exploration and scientific advancement. As China continues to push boundaries in space exploration, the Chang’e-6 mission stands as a testament to the country’s commitment to unlocking the mysteries of the cosmos.