Chinese probe reaches the far side of the Moon to collect samples
China’s Chang’e 6 probe has managed to land on the dark side of the moon to collect samples, the latest achievement of Beijing’s space program, state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday.
The Chang’e-6 probe landed in the vast Aitken Basin, one of the largest known impact craters in the solar system, Xinhua reported, citing the Chinese Space Agency.
He added that this will be the first time that samples have been collected from this little-explored region of the Moon.
Chang’e is on a technically challenging 53-day mission that began on May 3.
Now that he has landed on the moon, he will try to collect lunar dust and rocks and conduct other experiments nearby.
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The process should be completed within two days, Xinhua reported.
The probe will use two collection methods: a drill to collect samples below the surface and a robotic arm to collect samples above the surface.
Later he will make an unprecedented launch from the dark side of the Moon.
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Scientists say the dark side of the Moon, so named because it is not visible from Earth, has great potential for exploration because its craters on the near side are less covered by ancient lava flows.
Material collected from the dark side could provide information about how the Moon formed.
China already placed a spacecraft on the far side of the Moon in 2019, but did not collect any samples.
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Under President Xi Jinping, China has vigorously promoted its “space dream.”
Over the past decade, Beijing has poured significant resources into its space program as it seeks to pursue a series of ambitious initiatives aimed at bridging the gap with the two traditional space powers: the United States and Russia.
And he achieved several outstanding achievements, including the construction of the Tiangong space station, or “Heavenly Palace.”
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China has also sent robotic probes to Mars and the Moon and is only the third country to put humans into orbit.
But Washington warned that China’s space program is being used to conceal military goals and efforts to achieve space dominance.
“We believe that most of your so-called civilian space program is a military program,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told US lawmakers on Capitol Hill in April.
China aims to send a manned mission to the Moon by 2030 and plans to build a base on the moon’s surface.
The United States also plans to send astronauts to the Moon again by 2026 with the Artemis 3 mission.
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