China’s Chang’e 6 lunar probe returns to Earth with first-ever samples from the far side of the Moon

Beijing – from China Chang’e 6 lunar probe returned to Earth on Tuesday with rock and soil samples from the little-explored far side of the Moon, in a world first. The probe landed in northern China’s Inner Mongolia region on Tuesday afternoon.

“I now declare that the Chang’e 6 lunar exploration mission has achieved complete success,” Zhang Kejian, director of the China National Space Administration, said in a televised news conference after the landing.

Chinese scientists predict that the samples returned will include 2.5 million-year-old volcanic rocks and other materials that they hope will answer questions about the geographic differences between the two sides of the Moon.

The nearer side is what is seen from Earth and the farthest side faces space. The far side is also known for its mountains and impact craters, contrasting with the relatively flat expanses visible on the near side.

While previous American and Soviet missions collected samples from the near side of the Moon, the Chinese mission was the first to collect samples from the far side.

The lunar program is part of a growing rivalry with the United States – still a leader in space exploration – and others, including Japan And India. China has put his own space station in orbit and regularly sends crews there.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to the Chang’e team, saying it was a “historic achievement in our country’s efforts to become a space and technology power.”

The probe left Earth on May 3 and its journey lasted 53 days. The probe drilled the core and recovered rocks from the surface. Before the return unit lifted off from the lunar surface for the return journey, the Chang’e 6 unfurled a Chinese flag on the far side of the Moon, another world first.

The samples “should answer one of the most fundamental scientific questions in lunar science research: What geological activity is responsible for the differences between the two sides?” said Zongyu Yue, a geologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in a statement published in Innovation Monday, a journal published in partnership with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

In recent years, China has successfully launched several missions to the Moon, previously collecting samples from the near side of the Moon with the Chang’e 5 probe.

They also hope that the probe will have returned with materials bearing traces of meteorite impacts from the Moon’s past.