ALBAWABA - China recently made lunar history after landing on the dark side of the Moon for the first time ever using Chang’e 6 spacecraft to collect soil and rock samples, according to the China National Space Administration.
The probe which was launched from China landed at its destination on Sunday, Jun. 2, 2024, at 6:23 AM to be exact, as reported by RT. The lander will go through mandatory initial checkups before gathering the samples needed with a robotic arm.
Video: China makes history by reaching the dark side of the Moon
If scavenged properly and successfully, the samples will be deemed the first ones taken from the dark side of the moon which always faced the other way from our Earth.
The Chinese space agency claimed that the mission would last approximately a whopping 53 days before the team would make their way back to Earth. Chang'e 6 was first launched from Earth on May 3, 2024, and just arrived making the journey to the moon a month long.
A Long March 5 rocket, carrying the Chang'e-6 mission lunar probe, lifts off as it rains at the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in southern China's Hainan Province on May 3, 2024. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP)
It's noteworthy to add that Chang'e 5 which is its predecessor successfully made the trip and went back to Earth with rocks from the Moon’s near side in 2020 which after studies turned out to be much younger than the samples retrieved by the US Apollo and Soviet Luna missions 50 years ago.
