In a groundbreaking achievement, China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe has successfully completed the first-ever collection and return of samples from the far side of the moon to Earth. The historic mission, which marks a significant milestone in human lunar exploration, saw the Chang'e-6 spacecraft land in a designated area in Siziwang Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on June 25. The orbiter-returner combination spent 13 days in lunar orbit, awaiting the right opportunity to return to Earth after completing two moon-Earth transfer maneuvers and one orbital correction. The returner touched down on Earth, bringing back the world's first samples collected from the moon's far side. The samples will be flown to Beijing for storage and analysis. Scientists anticipate that they will provide answers to fundamental scientific questions about differences between the moon's two sides and help researchers piece together how the solar system was formed. The Chang'e-6 mission has cemented China's position as a rising space-exploration superpower, igniting a new space race with the U.S. and its allies to establish outposts at the strategically valuable lunar south pole.
