A Chinese space probe lands on the far side of the moon to take samples

Beijing A Chinese space probe landed on the far side of the moon on Sunday to take soil and rock samples that could provide information about the differences between this less-explored region and the known side.

The moon stated that the lunar landing module landed at 6:23 am Beijing time on a huge crater known as the Aitken Basin at the south pole of the moon. National Space Administration to China.

This mission is the sixth within the Chang'e Lunar Exploration Program, which is named after the Chinese moon goddess. It is the second designed to retrieve samples, after Chang'e 5, which did so from the near side in 2020.

The lunar program is part of the growing competition with… United State – which remains a leader in space exploration – and other countries, such as Japan and India. China has launched its own space station into orbit and regularly sends crews.

This emerging global power aims to send a human to the moon by 2030, making it the second country after the United States to do so. The United States plans to send astronauts to the moon again – for the first time in more than 50 years – although NASA pushed back the planned date to 2026 earlier this year.

US attempts to use private rockets to launch spacecraft have faced repeated delays. Last-minute computer problems prevented the scheduled launch of Boeing's first astronaut flight on Saturday.

Early Saturday, a Japanese billionaire canceled his plan to orbit the moon due to uncertainty over SpaceX's development of a massive rocket. the a pot She plans to use the rocket to send astronauts to the moon.

On the current China mission, the lander will use a mechanical arm and drilling to collect up to 4.4 pounds of material from the surface and subsurface over about two days.

An instrument on top of the lander will transfer the samples in an evacuated metal container to another lander orbiting the Moon. The container will be transferred to a re-entry capsule that will return to Earth in the deserts of China's Inner Mongolia region around June 25.

Missions to the far side of the Moon are more difficult because they focus on an area not facing Earth, requiring a relay satellite to maintain communications. In addition, the terrain is rougher and there are fewer flat areas on which to land.