Chang’e-6 rover makes historic landing on far side of Moon

The Chang’e-6 lunar lander successfully touched down on the far side of the moon yesterday morning, in a significant step for the ambitious mission that could advance China’s aspirations of putting astronauts on the moon.

China has notched several notable achievements in space exploration, including building the Tiangong space station and landing robotic rovers on Mars and the moon. China is the third country to independently put humans in orbit.

A still from the simulated animation video played at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center yesterday morning shows the Chang’e-6 rover about to land in the south pole area of the moon.  Photos by Xinhua

The Chang’e-6 probe landed in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, where it will begin to collect samples from the lunar surface, the China National Space Administration announced.

China’s most complex robotic lunar endeavor to date, the unmanned mission aims to return samples to Earth from the moon’s far side for the first time.

The landing marks the second time a mission has successfully reached the far side of the moon. China first completed the historic feat in 2019 with the Chang’e-4 probe.

If all goes as planned, the mission — which began May 3 and is expected to last 53 days — could be a key milestone in China’s push to become a dominant space power.

China plans to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 and building a research base at its south pole — a region believed to contain water ice.

Yesterday’s landing comes as a growing number of countries, including the United States, eye the strategic and scientific benefits of expanded lunar exploration in an increasingly competitive field.

Samples collected by the Chang’e-6 lander could provide key clues into the origin and evolution of the moon, Earth and the solar system, experts say – while the mission itself provides important data and technical practice to advance China’s lunar ambitions.

Chang’e-6 touched down within an impact crater known as the Apollo Basin, located within the sprawling, roughly 2,500-kilometer-diameter South Pole-Aitken Basin, Xinhua reported.

It had orbited the moon for about 20 days as part of a larger probe, which is composed of four parts: an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a re-entry module.

It is now expected to use a drill and a mechanical arm to gather up to 2 kilograms of moon dust and rocks from the basin, a crater formed some 4 billion years ago.

The probe will spend two days on the far side of the moon, and 14 hours to collect moon soil samples.

To complete its mission, the lander will need to robotically stow those samples in an ascent vehicle that made the landing with it.

The Chang’e-6 probe is being lifted by the Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket into the space in this May 3 file photo.

The ascent vehicle will then return to lunar orbit, where it will dock with and transfer the samples to a re-entry capsule, according to mission information provided by the China National Space Administration.

The re-entry capsule and orbiter will then travel back to Earth’s orbit and separate, allowing the re-entry capsule to make its expected return later this month to the Siziwang Banner Landing Site in the rural Inner Mongolia region.

The technically complex mission is made more challenging due to where it is being conducted. The far side of the moon is out of range of normal communications, which means Chang’e-6 must also rely on a satellite that was launched into lunar orbit in March, the Queqiao-2.

China plans to launch two more missions in the Chang-e series as it nears its 2030 target of sending astronauts to the moon.

Multiple nations are expanding their lunar programs, with a growing focus on securing access to resources and further deep-space exploration.

Last year, India landed a spacecraft on the moon for the first time, while Russia’s first lunar landing mission in decades ended in failure when its Luna 25 probe crashed into the moon’s surface.

In January, Japan became the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the moon, though its Moon Sniper lander faced power issues due to an incorrect landing angle. The following month, IM-1, a NASA-funded mission designed by Texas-based private firm Intuitive Machines, touched down close to the south pole. The United States is also planning to put astronauts back on the moon by 2026 with its Artemis 3 mission.(SD-Agencies)