China’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe has successfully landed on the far side of the Moon to collect samples in the latest leap for the country’s decades-old space programme.
The Chang’e-6 set down in the immense South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the largest known impact craters in the solar system, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing the China National Space Administration.
It marks the first time that samples will be collected from the rarely explored area of the Moon.
The Chang’e-6 is on a technically complex 53-day mission that began on 3 May.
Now that the probe has landed, it will attempt to scoop up lunar soil and rocks, and carry out other experiments in the landing zone.
Then it must attempt an unprecedented launch from the side of the Moon that always faces away from Earth.
Scientists say the Moon’s dark side, so-called because it is invisible from Earth, not because it never catches the sun’s rays, holds great promise for research because its craters are less covered by ancient lava flows than the near side.
Material collected from the dark side may better shed light on how the Moon formed in the first place.
China’s space ambitions
Plans for China’s “space dream” have been put into overdrive under Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China has poured huge resources into its space programme over the past decade, targeting a string of ambitious undertakings in an effort to close the gap with the two traditional space powers, the United States and Russia.
However the US has warned that China’s space programme is being used to mask military objectives and an effort to establish dominance in space.
China aims to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030 and plans to build a base on the lunar surface.
