China’s Lunar Probe Chang’e-6 Returns After Two Months in Space, Brings World’s First Sample From Far Side of the Moon

(Photo : Getty Images/ Xia yuan)

The first rock and soil samples ever taken from far off the Moon arrived on Earth.

Exploring the Dark Side of the Moon

China has become the first country to collect samples from the far side of the Moon and bring them back to Earth. It is a technological feat for the Beijing space program since communications from the far side are particularly difficult.

Named after the Chinese moon goddess, Chang'e-6 was launched on May 3, 2024, from Hainan province in south China. On June 1, the lunar lander reached the South Pole-Aitken Basin, which is considered the Moon's largest impact basin.

The Chinese probe collected samples from the Apollo crater, a depression on the opposite side of the Moon from Earth, which is believed to be about billions of years old. This region remained out of view to Earth until the 1960s when the first lunar orbiters took pictures of the Moon's dark side.

The mission's lander spent two days collecting rock and soil from the 1,600-mile (2,574-kilometer) wide lunar cavity. It used a drill and scoop to collect around 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of lunar samples.

On June 25, the lunar probe returned to Earth after two months in space. It crashed back down to Earth in China's rural Siziwang Banner region of Inner Mongolia after being released into Earth's orbit.

Chang'e-6 was not the only mission to visit the Moon this year. In January, Japan landed its unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) probe, while the US Odysseus Moon lander completed a soft lunar touchdown in February. Last year, India and Russia reached the Moon by sending Chandrayaan-3 and Luna-25 probes, respectively.

Significance of the Lunar Mission

This mission marks the first time lunar samples have been delivered to Earth from the far side of the Moon. There were nine previous missions that were sent to retrieve lunar rocks and soil, but they landed on the side facing the Earth.

Compared to the near side, the far side of the Moon is less affected by volcanic activity. This means that rocks and soil samples obtained from this region can provide important information about the formation and history of our celestial neighbor.

According to geologist Zongyu Yue from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the samples can answer the question regarding the geologic activity that makes the two sides distinct. The farside and the nearside of the Moon differ from each other in terms of composition, volcanic activity, and lunar crustal thickness.

Scientists plan to use the data from the samples to understand how debris from early moon collisions scattered across its surface. They also wanted to find out if there are any differences compared to findings from the nearside, which possesses uneven terrain.

Zongyu also hopes that the samples recovered by the Chang'e-6 mission contain some impact melts since they can provide important constraints on the early impact flux of the Moon. Once such data is obtained, it can describe the role of early meteorite impacts on lunar evolution and describe the early impact history of the inner Solar System.