China Lands Chang'e-6 Spacecraft on Moon's Far Side

0:00

/1861

1×

Facts

• The China National Space Administration has announced that the PRC's uncrewed Chang'e-6 spacecraft successfully landed in a large crater on the far side of the moon called the South Pole-Aitken Basin at 6:23 a.m. Beijing time Sunday.¹
• The Chang'e-6, which launched May 3, will collect soil and rock samples from the moon's far side for the first time in history and return to Earth in about 53 days.²
• According to the space agency, the mission was guided by the Queqiao-2 relay satellite to navigate the side of the moon that's always facing away from Earth.³
• The Chang'e-6 seeks to use a robot arm and a drill to collect 2 kg (4.4lb) of lunar material, which will be sent in a metal vacuum container back to another spacecraft in lunar orbit to facilitate its return to Earth.⁴
• The mission, which is China's second descent on the far side of the moon, which no other country has reached, is expected to land in the country's Inner Mongolia region around June 25.⁵
• This is China's sixth moon exploration mission. The country operates its own crewed space station and plans to land astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030.⁶

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²CNN, ³BBC News, ⁴Sky News, ⁵Reuters and ⁶The Hill.

Narratives

• Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global Times. This successful landing shows the PRC's engineering prowess in space exploration. This mission — China's most complex robotic lunar endeavor to date — will provide an unprecedented comparison between the dark, unexplored region and the better-known near side and also be a key milestone in China's push to become a dominant space power.
• Anti-China narrative, as provided by Guardian. A surge in missions to the moon is unfolding worldwide — a dangerous trend driven by the intent to dominate and monopolize the moon's resources for commercial purposes. China's growing space power, in particular, is a matter of grave concern, as Beijing may claim territoriality and leverage it to further its regional and domestic political and military interests.

Predictions