China has launched its Chang'e-6 mission, aiming to become the first country to collect rock and soil samples from the far side of the Moon.
The mission, part of China's ambitious lunar exploration program, lifted off on a Long March 5 rocket from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on May 3, 2024.
Chang'e-6 is targeting a landing in the southern portion of the Apollo crater, located within the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin on the lunar far side. This ancient, massive impact basin is thought to hold valuable clues about the Moon's composition and early history.
The spacecraft, weighing 3,200kg, will carry scientific instruments from France, Italy, Sweden, and Pakistan.
Its primary objective is to collect around 2 kg of material from 2 m below the lunar surface and return it to Earth for analysis
"Chang'e-6 aims to achieve breakthroughs in the design and control technology of the Moon's retrograde orbit, intelligent sampling, take-off and ascent technologies, and automatic sample-return on the far side of the moon," said Ge Ping, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center under the China National Space Administration.
The mission builds upon the success of China's Chang'e-4 lander and rover, which became the first to land on the lunar far side in 2019.
Chang'e-4's ground-penetrating radar revealed a previously unseen layered structure in the first 10 meters of the lunar surface, challenging previous assumptions about the subsurface.
If successful, the Chang'e-6 samples could provide valuable insights into the Moon's mantle composition, which scientists have yet to determine. The mission could also help explain the differences in composition between the near and far sides of the Moon.
China's lunar exploration program aims to establish a permanent lunar base through the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) program in the 2030s. The Chang'e-6 mission is a significant step towards this goal, demonstrating China's growing capabilities in deep space exploration.
