China's Chang’e-6 mission to the far side of the Moon (2024)

FAQs

Has China landed on the far side of the moon? ›

China is the only country to have landed on the far side of the moon, having also done so before in 2019. The Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) described the mission's landing and lift-off as an ''unprecedented feat in human lunar exploration''.

Chang'e 6 landed in the unexplored Apollo Basin crater within the larger South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin located on the far side of the moon on the morning of Sunday, June 2, Beijing Time.

China's moon missions are called Chang'e, named for the goddess of the moon in Chinese mythology. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) launched the Chinese Lunar Exploration Programme (CLEP) in 2003, and the first Chang'e mission happened in 2007. Chang'e 1 created a map of the moon's surface.

Chang'e 3 launched on December 2, 2013. The spacecraft consisted of a 1,200-kg (2,600-pound) lander, which carried a 120-kg (260-pound) rover, called Yutu after the rabbit that accompanied the goddess Chang'e to the Moon. The lander touched down in Mare Imbrium in the Moon's northern hemisphere on December 14.

This is China's second mission to collect samples from the moon- but it is the first aimed at extracting them from the far side. In 2020, its Chang'e-5 craft brought back 1.7kg of material from an area called Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon's near side.

BEIJING, June 2 (Reuters) - China landed an uncrewed spacecraft on the far side of the moon on Sunday, overcoming a key hurdle in its landmark mission to retrieve the world's first rock and soil samples from the dark lunar hemisphere.

The China National Space Administration's Chang'e 4 achieved humanity's first ever soft landing on the lunar far side on 3 January 2019 and deployed the Yutu-2 lunar rover onto the lunar surface. The craft included a lander equipped with a low-frequency radio spectrograph and geological research tools.

Chang'e-6 spent 4.5 days on its voyage to the Moon, after launching from the Wenchange Space Launch Centre on May 3. Once in orbit around the Moon, a lander separated from the orbiter and targeted a landing area.

Including the Apollo 11 mission, 12 men have walked on the Moon.

She is one of the major goddesses in Chinese mythology, Chinese folk religion, Chinese Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. In modern times, Chang'e is the namesake of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program.

Can you see the flag on the moon? ›

We cannot see the flags on the Moon with Earthbound telescopes, but we know they are still standing tall thanks to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The flag support bar latch failed on the Apollo 12 flag pole and remains forever collapsed on Oceanus Procellarum. Photo courtesy of NASA.

It was not a happy life, and one day Houyi was killed by one of his own students who was known to be jealous of the warrior's skill and bravery. Chang'e achieved the immortality she wanted so desperately, but she remains to this day alone in her palace on the moon with only a white rabbit for company.

In 1966, Luna 9 achieved the first soft landing and in 1969, the U.S.'s Apollo 11 achieved the first human landing. In the decades since, many nations have contributed to lunar orbiters and landers. As of January 2024, four nations have successfully landed on the Moon (USSR, United States, India, China).

Another character challenge was the Moon Goddess, Chang'e, as she takes on many different forms with a broad range of performances. From a vulnerable character, of regular human proportions, to a towering 9-foot tall Royal Goddess.

First lunar day

The rover was successfully deployed from the lander and made contact with the lunar surface on 20:35 UTC, 14 December 2013.

CAST already has the Yutu-2 rover on the far side of the moon, which landed in 2019 as part of the Chang'e 4 mission — the first mission to successfully land a spacecraft on the far side of the moon. Yutu-2 has already made some big finds, including the discovery of small glass spheres on the lunar surface.

Q: can we see from the Earth any parts of the Lunar lander or rovers with a telescope? No. Even the largest Earth based telescope cannot resolve detail anywhere near fine enough at a quarter million miles to see the Apollo descent stages, much less any of the other hardware.

The last crewed mission to the Moon was Apollo 17, taking place between 7 and 19 December 1972. It was a 12-day mission and broke many records, the longest space walk, the longest lunar landing and the largest lunar samples brought back to Earth.

As a reward, the Queen Mother of the West gave Hou Yi an elixir of immortality. Hou Yi's wife, Chang-E, unwittingly drank the potion herself. Rising to the moon, she has lived there ever since within the crystal walls of her "Cold Palace."

The Apollo program's Lunar Roving Vehicle was driven on the Moon by members of three American crews, Apollo 15, 16, and 17. Other rovers have been partially or fully autonomous robots, such as the Soviet Union's Lunokhods, Chinese Yutus, Indian Pragyan, and Japan's LEVs.

What is the name of China mission launched to the far side of the moon recently? ›

"The Chang'e-6 mission is the first human sampling and return mission from the far side of the moon," CNSA officials said in a translated statement.

China's lunar sample collection mission Chang'e 6 has made history by successfully touching down on the far side of the moon, and it even sent back a stunning video of its landing. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) probe arrived at the moon on Sunday (June 2 at 6:23 a.m.

A popular myth, the claim was disproved when astronauts stated that the Great Wall of China was not visible with the naked eye from the Moon. Due to its coloration and pollution, the structure is only sometimes visible from low orbit and the International Space Station.

So far, in order of successful soft moon landings are the Soviet Union (1966), the United States (1966), China (2013), India (2023) and Japan (2024). Either by accident or deliberately European Space Agency, Israel and Ispace have crashed a spacecraft on the Moon.

Over half a century ago, on July 20, 1969, humans walked on the Moon for the first time.