China has initiated the process of bringing back lunar samples from the moon in its historic mission
- Posted on June 4, 2024
- News
- By Arijit Dutta
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China's Chang'e-6 spacecraft successfully lifted off from the far side of the Moon carrying the first-ever samples from that region, beginning its journey back to Earth.

China’s Chang’e-6 mission was launched from the far side of the Moon on Tuesday and is en route back to Earth with the first lunar samples collected from the unviewable side of the Moon.
The spacecraft's ascent module took off at 7:38 about a. m. Tuesday Beijing time after two days of sifting around 4. Rock and soil samples weighing 4 pounds (2 kg) of the South Pole-Aitken basin, the largest and oldest known impact crater in the solar system.
According to CNSA, the ascender module has been back onto the surface, and the sampling and takeoff have been highlighted as the first in Tuman lunar exploration.
When a predetermined orbit around the Moon has been attained, a sealed metal container with precious lunar samples will be taken into a rare-entry capsule, which, after a perilous journey across the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic oceans, will make its parachute landing in Inner Mongolia around June 25.
Chinese scientists will be the first to analyze lunar material but other researchers globally can try to get the first new moon rocks since the 1970s.
“We are very happy that we might be able to see rocks that nobody ever saw before,” stated lunar geology expert John Pernet-Fisher of the University of Manchester. It may shed light on some crucial aspects concerning the formation of planets.
Tidal locking makes the same side of the moon always face the Earth, which means that the far side, or the dark side of the moon can be considered as a new frontier in lunar missions. This area is much different from the near side that was visited by previous missions because of the rugged terrain that dominates this area, and the abundance of craters; the rocks returned by Chang’e-5 should contain the data on the formation of the Moon.
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China recently in 2019 became the first country to have a spacecraft land on the far side of the Moon through the Chang’e-4 mission. Chang’e-6 will further enhance the success of Chang’e-3 as another large-scale robotic exploration and preparation for the manned lunar landing expected in early 2020.