The Chinese probe Chang'e 6 returned to Earth this Tuesday, with rare lunar rocks, the first samples from the far side of the Moon, still to be explored.
According to state media, the lunar probe landed in the desert of Inner Mongolia after a mission lasting almost two months.
Chinese scientists predict that the returned samples will include 2.5 million-year-old volcanic rocks and other materials that will answer questions about the geographic differences between the two sides of the Moon.
China's Chang'e-6 probe had left the lunar surface in early June and the collection of samples from the far side of the Moon was described as "an unprecedented feat in the history of human lunar exploration", according to the news agency. Chinese official Xinhua, citing the Chinese Space Administration, at that time.
Chang'e 6, launched in early May from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the southern Chinese tropical island of Hainan, landed as planned in the immense Aitken basin at the lunar south pole, one of the largest known impact craters in the world. solar system, said the Chinese Space Administration.
This mission is the sixth in China's Chang'e Moon exploration program, named after the Chinese goddess of the Moon, and will be the second to bring lunar samples back to Earth, after a first on the near side of the celestial body in 2020. .
Missions to the far side of the Moon are considered more difficult because they require a relay satellite to maintain communications.
Among China's recent space achievements are the exploration of Mars and the construction of the Tiangong space station, where it regularly sends crews.
China's space ambition continues to grow, with the possibility of Tiangong becoming the only functioning space station, after the International Space Station, as planned, is retired in 2031.
The lunar program is part of a growing rivalry with the United States and other countries, including Japan and India, to explore space.
China aims to put a person on the Moon before 2030, which would make it the second nation to do so after the United States.
The US space agency NASA plans to put astronauts on the Moon again, for the first time in more than 50 years, although earlier this year it postponed that goal to 2026.
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