A Chinese spacecraft made a successful soft landing on the far side of the moon on Saturday, government officials said.
The Chang’e-6 lander made a soft landing at 6:23 p.m. EDT (Sunday morning Beijing time), the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced. The lander targeted a southern portion of the Apollo crater within the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the lunar surface, according to SpaceNews.
The spacecraft was launched on May 3.
The lander-ascender combination of China's Chang'e-6 probe successfully landed at the designated landing area in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon. #XinhuaNews pic.twitter.com/opwlEdWR6M
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 1, 2024
The mission is the sixth in the Chang’e moon exploration program, The Associated Press reported. It is the second Chinese spacecraft to collect samples; the Chang’e-5 brought back lunar samples from the near side of the moon in 2020, according to the news organization.
The lander will use a mechanical arm and a drill to collect up to 4.4 pounds of lunar surface soil and underground material to send back in a capsule that is presently orbiting the moon, the AP reported.
The Chang’e-6 lander used a variable 7,500-newton-thrust engine to slow its velocity in the lunar orbit, SpaceNews reported.
“Everyone is very excited that we might get a look at these rocks no one has ever seen before,” John Pernet-Fisher, who specialises in lunar geology at the University of Manchester, told the BBC.
China is planning three more uncrewed missions over the next decade, the news organization reported.
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