China is set to launch its robotic spacecraft Chang'e-6 on Friday (May 3) which will make a round trip and collect samples from the far side of the moon.
Chang'e-6, which is made using the backup spacecraft from the 2020 mission, will gather rocks and soil from the region that has stayed away from the earth's view permanently.
The Chinese spacecraft will rely on the relay satellite that has been recently deployed and in its 53-day mission is orbiting the moon.
China will send a robotic spacecraft in coming days on a round trip to the moon's far side in the first of three technically demanding missions that will pave the way for an inaugural Chinese crewed landing and a base on the lunar south pole. Since the first Chang'e mission in 2007, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia. In 2020, China brought back samples from the moon's near side in the first sample retrieval in more than four decades, confirming for the first time it could safely return an uncrewed spacecraft to Earth from the lunar surface.
China will send a robotic spacecraft in coming days on a round trip to the moon's far side in the first of three technically demanding missions that will pave the way for an inaugural Chinese crewed landing and a base on the lunar south pole, Reuters reported. Since the first Chang'e mission in 2007, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, China has made leaps forward in its lunar exploration, narrowing the technological chasm with the United States and Russia.