The far side of the moon is distinct from the near side, where the United States, China and what was then the Soviet Union have gathered samples. It has a thicker crust, more craters and fewer maria, or plains where lava once flowed. It’s unclear why the two sides of the moon are so different; the samples collected by Chang’e-6 could provide some clues.
The South Pole-Aitkin basin, a massive impact crater about 1,600 miles wide, is among the largest in the history of the solar system, and the impact that created it is thought to have dug up material from the lunar mantle. That material, if it can be retrieved, could help scientists learn more about the history of the moon’s insides.
China is the only country to have sent missions to the far side of the moon so far, and the missions are part of its growing space ambitions in an increasingly competitive global environment. The country has successfully launched a mission to Mars and has plans for a future visit to an asteroid. It also aims to put a person on the moon before 2030, which would make it the second nation to do so after the United States.
Chang’e-6 is the third mission to land on the moon this year. Japan became the world’s fifth country to reach the moon’s surface when its Smart Lander for Investigating Moon landed there in January. Odysseus, a privately operated spacecraft built by Intuitive Machines of Houston, landed in February.
Chang’e-6 lifted off on May 3 from the Wenchang space site on Hainan Island in southern China. It reached the moon on May 8, China’s space agency said, and orbited it for several weeks before touching down. The descent took about 14 minutes, and the probe used cameras and 3-D laser scanning to avoid obstacles as it landed, the agency said.
