Historical event: the Chinese probe landed on the far side of the moon

Illustrative photo/unsplash

On Sunday, June 2, the Chinese lunar probe “Chang'e-6” (Chang'e-6) successfully landed in a designated area on the far side of the Earth's satellite. It is to collect and deliver to Earth rock samples from the surface of the far side of the Moon.

This was reported by the Reuters agency, citing the National Space Administration of China.

The probe touched the surface of the Moon. in the designated landing area June 2 at 01:23Kyiv time (at 6:23 a.m. Beijing time). The probe landed with the support of the Queqiao-2 relay satellite.

Chang'e-6 consists of an orbiter, a reverter, a lander and an ascent.

Lunar probe Chang 'e 6/REUTERS

The successful mission was China's second to the far side of the moon, a region no other country has reached. The side of the Moon, which is constantly turned away from Earth, is dotted with deep and dark craters, making communication and robotic landing difficult.

The Chang'e-6 probe launched on May 3 on a Chinese rocket. Long March 5 from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on southern Hainan Island, reaching the outskirts of the Moon in about a week before narrowing its orbit in preparation for landing.

The landing of the Chinese probe marks the third world's first lunar landing this year: Japan's SLIM lander touched down in January, followed by the American startup Intuitive Machines' lander next month.