China's Chang'e-6 lands on moon's far side

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – China's robotic Chang'e-6 lunar lander successfully touched down on the moon's far side on Sunday, and will soon begin collecting rock samples from the oldest lunar basin before returning to Earth, state media reported.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced that the Chang'e-6 lander had landed in the northeastern part of the South Pole-Aitken basin at 6:23 a.m. Beijing time (2223GMT Saturday).

This is China's second landing on the moon's far side, the South China Morning Post reported.

China first accomplished this historic feat in 2019 with its Chang'e-4 probe.

The mission aims to scoop up samples and send them back to Earth, providing researchers with their first close-up views of material from this area of the moon.

"The Chang'e-6 mission is the first human sampling and return mission from the far side of the moon," the CNSA said in a statement.

Named after a Chinese moon goddess, the mission is the sixth in the Chang’e moon exploration program.

The moon program is part of a growing rivalry with the US and others, including Japan and India. China has put its space station in orbit and regularly sends crews there.

The emerging global power plans to send a person to the moon before 2030, making it the second nation after the US to do so.