China successfully landed its lunar probe on the far side of the Moon.

China’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe has recently landed on the far side of the moon to collect samples this, according to the state run media. Translating this into the real-world, this is a breakthrough that has remarkable value for Beijing when it comes to space exploration. The sample returned was taken from the South Pole-Aitken Basin, which has been deemed as one of the largest single impact craters in the solar system, CNN reports citing the China National Space Administration’s Xinhua news agency.

This mission is particularly significant because it will be the first time that the samples will be retrieved from this comparatively unchartered territory on the Moon. Launched on May 3, the Chang’e 6 probe is capable of conducting a technically complex mission that lasts 53 days. On Sunday, it released small amounts of fuel to lower it from its approximate 200 kilometers (124 miles) altitude above the Moon’s surface to possibly find a proper landing site, according to Huang Wu, a China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation’s official interviewed by CCTV.

Huang elaborated on the dangers that the probe faces by travelling to a lower orbit and pointed out that great care has to be taken so that the spacecraft is made to move in the designated path.

After the descent, the probe had to slow down to the speed equal to the velocity of the Moon relative to the probe within 15 minutes only with the help of available propellant which was equal to half the weight of the probe.

That being said, now that the probe has successfully landed, it will locate the lunar soil and rocks within the landing zone, and perform several experiments.

As reported by Xinhua, it will take two days to accomplish this process; the probe will drill and get samples from the ground and also use an arm to get some samples from the surface of the asteroid.

The next difficulty to occur will be an attempted launch from the far side of the Moon, which permanently faces away from Earth.

According to researchers the far side of the moon because one cannot see it from earth provides good opportunity for exploration because the craters on this side are not as much covered by the lava as the side that is visible from earth.

According to the specialists, samples collected from the dark side of the Moon are important as they will help to learn more about the formation and early history of the satellite.

China’s space ambitions

This has particularly been the case in the times under the presidency of Xi Jinping who has aggressively advocated for space development in the country.

Currently, Beijing has also invested a lot of money on its space program in the last few years and has been working actively on several large scale projects to achieve technological parity with the traditional dominant space powers which are the United States and Russia.

This county has accomplished a number of achievements like the construction of Tiangong space station, landing the robotic rovers on Mars and on the Lunar, and becoming the third country for self-sustainable human space launch.

Nevertheless, Washington has advocated for apprehensions on China’s space programs and capacities as they may be inclined towards military applications of space programs and also domination of space.

To recall the major Recent Chinese Achievements, it is worthy to note that China aims at achieving the long-term goal of putting to the Moon a maned expedition by 2030 and create a lunar station.

In a similar manner, the United States is currently working on its Artemis 3 which aims to facilitate manned lunar missions by 2026.

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