China has successfully landed a spacecraft on the far side of the moon in a mission that will look to collect soil and rock samples that could provide more information into the differences between the two sides of the celestial body.
The China National Space Administration shared that the landing module touched down in a crater known as the South Pole-Aitken Basin early on Sunday morning, local time.
The lunar landing was the sixth in China’s Chang’e moon exploration program, which was named after the Chinese moon goddess.
This will also mark the second time the program returns samples after the Chang’e 5 did so in 2020.
All eyes are on the moon as more nations look to return after decades away.
The United States is working on sending astronauts to the moon for the first time in decades through the new Artemis program. The goal for the US is to create a base on the lunar surface that will help man conquer its next feat, landing on Mars.
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Still, the U.S. is years away from returning man to the moon, as the target date was pushed back to 2026 earlier this year.
In the private sector, companies like SpaceX are continuing to innovate and find ways to capitalize on commercial space travel.
However, on Saturday, a Japanese billionaire canceled his plan to orbit the moon because of uncertainty over the development of a mega-rocket by SpaceX.
China’s current mission will see the lander use a mechanical arm and drill to collect around 4 pounds of the lunar surface and underground material. The hope is to return the samples to Earth sometime at the end of this month.
The crater that the module landed in was created more than 4 billion years ago and is 8 miles deep and 1,500 miles wide, according to a report by China’s Xinhua News Agency.
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