BEIJING — A monumental achievement in space exploration was marked on Sunday as a Chinese spacecraft successfully landed on the far side of the moon. The mission’s objective is to collect soil and rock samples that could shed light on the differences between the less-explored region and the more familiar near side of the moon.
The landing module made contact with the lunar surface at 6:23 a.m. Beijing time, within the vast expanse of the South Pole-Aitken Basin, as confirmed by the China National Space Administration.
This mission marks the sixth installment in the Chang’e moon exploration program, named in honor of a Chinese moon goddess. It is the second mission designed to retrieve samples, following the successful Chang’e 5 mission that brought back samples from the near side of the moon in 2020.
The moon program is a testament to China’s growing prowess in space exploration, a field where the U.S. has traditionally been the leader. Other countries, including Japan and India, are also vying for a piece of the space pie. China has already established its own space station in orbit and regularly sends crews there.
China, an emerging global power, has set its sights on putting a person on the moon before 2030, which would make it the second nation after the United States to achieve this feat. Meanwhile, America is planning to land astronauts on the moon again — for the first time in over half a century — although NASA has pushed the target date back to 2026 earlier this year.
U.S. efforts to utilize private-sector rockets for launching spacecraft have faced repeated delays. Last-minute computer glitches led to the cancellation of Boeing’s first astronaut flight on Saturday.
On the same day, a Japanese billionaire had to abandon his plans to orbit the moon due to uncertainties surrounding the development of a mega rocket by SpaceX. NASA is planning to use this rocket to send its astronauts to the moon.
In the current Chinese mission, the lander is equipped with a mechanical arm and a drill to collect up to 4.4 pounds of surface and underground material over a span of about two days.
An ascender positioned on the lander will then transport the samples in a metal vacuum container back to another module that is orbiting the moon. The container will be transferred to a re-entry capsule that is scheduled to return to Earth, landing in the deserts of China’s Inner Mongolia region around June 25.
Missions to the far side of the moon pose greater challenges as it doesn’t face the Earth, necessitating a relay satellite to maintain communications. The terrain is also more rugged, with fewer flat areas suitable for landing.
The South Pole-Aitken Basin, an impact crater formed over 4 billion years ago, is 8 miles deep and spans a diameter of 1,500 miles, as per a report by China’s Xinhua News Agency.
Being the oldest and largest of such craters on the moon, it could potentially provide the earliest information about the moon, Xinhua added. The massive impact that created the basin may have ejected materials from deep beneath the surface.
Disagree Aerospace advancements should focus on cooperation, not competition.
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