Mission to shed light on dark side of the moon

China on Friday launched its Chang'e 6 spacecraft to collect and return samples from the moon's mysterious far side — the first endeavor of its kind.

The samples from the far side of the moon will give scientists a better understanding of the environment and material composition of the far side of the moon.

The Chang'e 6 spacecraft, like its predecessor Chang'e 5, comprises an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a returner. According to the mission plan, after it reaches the moon, it will make a soft landing on the far side. Within 48 hours of its touchdown on the lunar surface, a robotic arm will be extended to scoop rocks and soil from the lunar surface, and a drill will bore into the ground.

After the samples are sealed in a container, the ascender will take off from the moon and dock with the orbiter in lunar orbit. The returner will then carry the samples back to Earth, landing in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. The entire flight is expected to last about 53 days, according to the China National Space Administration.

The Chang'e 6 mission has required new technological breakthroughs in such areas as lunar retrograde orbit design and control, rapid intelligent sampling, and takeoff from the far side of the moon.

Notably, the Chang'e 6 mission is carrying four payloads developed through international cooperation, highlighting how China's space program is providing more opportunities for the world's scientists and promoting international cooperation in space exploration. Scientific instruments from France, Italy, the European Space Agency and Sweden are aboard the Chang'e 6 lander, and a small satellite from Pakistan is aboard the orbiter.

More than 300 kilograms of lunar samples have been retrieved over the course of 10 lunar missions carried out by the United States, the former Soviet Union and China, and all were collected from the moon's near side.

Remote-sensing images show the moon's two sides are very different. The near side is relatively flat, while the far side is thickly dotted with asteroid impact craters of different sizes and has much fewer lunar mares than the near side. Scientists also suspect that the lunar crust on the far side is much thicker than that on the near side. But why that is so remains a mystery.

-Xinhua news agency