China on Friday launched an uncrewed spacecraft on a nearly two-month mission to retrieve rocks and soil from the far side of the moon, the first country to make such an ambitious attempt.
The Long March-5, China’s largest rocket, blasted off at 5:27 p.m. Beijing time (0927 GMT) from Wenchang Space Launch Center on the southern island of Hainan with the more than 8 metric ton Chang’e-6 probe.
Chang’e-6 is tasked with landing in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon, which perpetually faces away from the Earth, after which it will retrieve and return samples.
The launch marks another milestone in China’s lunar and space exploration program.
“It is a bit of a mystery to us how China has been able to develop such an ambitious and successful program in such a short time,” said Pierre-Yves Meslin, a French researcher working on one of the scientific objectives of the Chang’e-6 mission.
In 2018, Chang’e-4 gave China its first unmanned moon landing, also on the far side. In 2020, Chang’e-5 marked the first time humans retrieved lunar samples in 44 years, and Chang’e-6 could make China the first country to retrieve samples from the moon’s “hidden” side.
Transitioning from previous lunar missions, the China moon samples mission demonstrates China’s growing capabilities in space exploration.
Furthermore, the success of the China moon samples mission could pave the way for future lunar exploration endeavors. As China continues to push the boundaries of space exploration, international collaboration and cooperation become increasingly vital.
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