The Chinese National Space Agency said on Tuesday that an unmanned Chinese lunar probe is on its way back to Earth after collecting rock samples from the far side of the moon, as China competes to become the first country to bring samples from the remote region.
The landing module of the Chang’e 6 spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon on Sunday and took off again from the lunar surface on Tuesday afternoon, according to the national space agency.
She added that the module reached the planned lunar orbit with the samples on board. The agency said that the equipment on board the probe, including devices provided by the European Space Agency and France, worked as expected. The agency explained that the probe withstood the high temperatures on the far side of the celestial body, but the take-off was particularly sensitive. The agency expects the spacecraft to land in the Inner Mongolia region in northern China at the end of this June.
The mission is considered a milestone in the country’s ambitious space programme. If successful, this will be the first time soil and rock samples from the far side of the Moon have been brought back to Earth. This is the sixth lunar mission launched by China since 2007. China has said it wants to send a manned lunar mission by 2030. The moon has become the subject of renewed interest for many spacefaring countries in recent years because of the valuable raw materials it is believed to contain.
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