Bloomberg — A Chinese spacecraft carrying samples collected from the far side of the Moon returned to Earth on Tuesday, a major milestone on China’s path toward future lunar exploration.
The Chang’e-6 spacecraft landed in a grassland region of Inner Mongolia around 2:00 p.m. local time, according to a video broadcast by state media.
In the first return mission from the far side of the Moon, where communications are more difficult because it is never oriented towards Earth, Chang’e-6 was to transport some 2 kilograms of material collected from the South Pole-Aitken basin, one of the oldest impact craters in the solar system.
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This mission was China’s second to the most distant part of the Moon, following the Chang’e-4 landing in 2019. No other country has sent a spacecraft to the far side, although NASA plans to support American spacecraft missions there.
Both China and the US want to send astronauts to the Moon by the end of the decade and are eager to learn more about the Possible water ice reserveswhich could potentially be used to make oxygen and rocket fuel for long-term human habitation.
Casually, Chang’e-6 landed just as NASA and Boeing Co. have experienced more problems with the troubled Starliner mission to the International Space Station. After numerous setbacks that delayed its first manned mission for seven years, the Starliner was finally launched on June 6 and has since missed several goals for the return of its crew of two astronauts.
The US agency scrapped the planned return date of June 26 and has not yet set a new time for his return.
Chang’e-5, China’s previous lunar probe, was a nearside sample return mission that brought about 1.7 kilograms of regolith back to Earth in 2020.
What is the hidden side of the moon like?
The surface of the far side of the Moon is very different, without the smooth areas known as lunar seas that are found on the far side and are visible from Earth. Thus, Samples collected by Chang’e-6 could help scientists learn much more about the Moonaccording to Quentin Parker, director of the Space Research Laboratory at the University of Hong Kong.
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The hidden face “has a different age profile that could correspond to a much earlier time of Moon formation and, potentially, the formation of the Earth,” he stated. “It will be a veritable cornucopia of lunar geological wonders.”
The Hong Kong laboratory last month signed a preliminary agreement with the Hawaii International Lunar Observatory Association to place a specially designed telescope on China’s next lunar mission, Chang’e-7, scheduled for 2026.
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