China has successfully launched a spacecraft with the objective of collecting samples from the previously unexplored dark side of the moon.

JUST LIKE NOBODY IN HISTORY HAS BROUGHT BACK ROCKING FROM THE DARKER SIDE OF MOON.

Blast Off

On the 19th January, just like they did in the past, China literally shot for the Moon on a mission to collect and bring the materials from the strange dark site of the Moon. This would be the FIRST mission of this kind if it was successfully accomplished, according to the Washington Post.

The Chang’e-6 probe is to return to Earth in the next four days, powered by an uncrewed Long March 5 rocket, and it is anticipated to work on the Moon mission for 53 days, according to the New York Times.

The lander is scheduled to be down on the side of the Moon facing away from the Sun, in a massive ditch called “The South Pole-Aitken Basin”. This is where the drilling machine will be used to mine through the ground underneath. The collected material, weighing over four pounds will be tucked away into the spacecraft for safe transport.

Spacecraft will enter the substellar regime and start performing very accurate navigation missions thanks to very precise knowledge of position and velocity. The probe who did its job will open the container to the orbesteron spacecraft which in turn will fly back to Earth, landing somewhere in Inner Mongolia.

Space Race

Samples have only been collected from the moon’s near side area, and therefore, this will be it for the first time to travel to its far side.

Answering to the CCTV interview, “we will gather the comprehensive and long-lasting data about the remote side of the moon to investigate the lunar soil structure, physical properties and composition. The lunar soil study will also provide updated data for astronauts,” said the mission’s deputy chief designer Wang Qiong to the WaPo.

Analyzing samples from the dark far side would give scientists a better understanding of the Moon’s formation and hopefully answer a longrunning question: why does the side that faces toward the sun appear much brighter than the side that is in the shadow behind it? The darker side is indeed made up of mountains and craters, whereas the lighter one has a smoother valley like surface.