China’s Chang’e-6 Mission Achieves Historic Landing on Far Side of the Moon

China has made a significant leap in space exploration by successfully landing its uncrewed spacecraft, Chang’e-6, on the far side of the moon at 6:23 am Beijing time (2223 GMT) on Sunday. This mission aims to retrieve rocks and soil from the moon’s surface, a landmark achievement for China’s space program. The landing occurred at the South Pole-Aitken Basin, an unexplored region on the lunar surface, highlighting China’s pioneering efforts in space exploration.

The Chang’e-6 mission is particularly notable as it is the first human sampling and return mission from the moon’s far side, involving numerous engineering innovations and considerable risks. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) emphasized the mission’s complexity and the significance of its success. The payloads on the Chang’e-6 lander are expected to perform scientific exploration missions as planned, contributing valuable data and samples for further study.

This successful landing marks China’s second accomplishment on the far side of the moon, a feat that remains unique to the nation. The far side of the moon poses significant communication challenges as it always faces away from Earth. The Chang’e-6 probe was launched nearly a month ago by a Chinese Long March-5 rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on Hainan island. This mission underscores China’s growing capabilities and ambitions in lunar exploration, with implications for future long-term astronaut missions and moon bases aimed at exploiting lunar minerals.