China launches probe to take samples from the far side of the Moon

Taipei, Taiwan –

China launched a probe Friday to reach the far side of the moon and return with samples that could provide information about the differences between the lesser-studied region and the better-known near side.

The Chang’e-6 lunar probe rocket, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, lifted off as scheduled at 5:27 pm on Friday from the Wenchang launch center in the island province of Hainan.

It is the latest achievement in China’s increasingly complex space exploration program, which now competes with the United States, which remains the leader in space.

After orbiting the Moon to slow its descent, the lander will separate from the spacecraft and begin taking samples almost immediately upon approach. You will then reunite with the returnee and travel back to Earth. The entire mission will last 53 days.

Free from Earth and other interference, the mysterious far side of the Moon is ideal for radio astronomy and other scientific work. Since the opposite side is never facing Earth, a relay satellite is needed to maintain communications.

China already landed a craft on the far side of the Moon in 2019, becoming the first country to do so. And in 2020, it took samples from the near side of the Moon for the first time since the US Apollo program ended in the 1970s. Analysis of the samples showed that they contained water in the form of small balls embedded in the lunar soil.

China also has a crew of three on its own orbiting space station and aims to land astronauts on the Moon by 2030. Three Chinese lunar exploration missions are planned over the next four years.

Large crowds gathered on the beaches of Hainan to watch the launch, which took place in the middle of China’s five-day May holiday.

Also last week, three Chinese astronauts returned home from a six-month mission on the country’s orbiting space station following the arrival of a replacement crew.

China has built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely due to US concerns about total control of the space program by the Chinese military amid increasingly intense technological competition between the two geopolitical rivals. U.S. law prohibits virtually all cooperation between the U.S. and Chinese space programs without explicit congressional approval.

China carried out its first manned space flight in 2003, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the United States to send a man into space using its own resources.