China embarks on lunar backside sample collection for the first time in human history
Lander of China’s lunar probe Chang’e 6 being captured by Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) on the 2nd. Photo by Xinhua News Agency, Yonhap News
, ‘[Financial News]【Beijing=Byun Ji-eun Correspondent】China is challenging another remarkable record in the history of space development by embarking on lunar backside sample collection for the first time in human history.’,
, “Xinhua News reported on the 2nd that China’s lunar probe ‘Chang’e 6’ successfully landed on the backside of the moon on this day.”,
, “The landing site in the morning was the ‘South Pole-Aitken Basin’ on the backside of the moon.”,
, “Chang’e 6 landed in the ‘South Pole-Aitken Basin’ on the backside of the moon, where soil and rocks totaling 2 kg will be collected and expected to return to Earth around the 25th of this month.”,
, ‘China National Space Administration (CNSA) launched Chang’e 6 on the 3rd of last month for this purpose. It is composed of four major components: orbiter, lander, ascent stage, and reentry module.’,
, ‘If Chang’e 6 succeeds in lunar backside sample collection, it will be the first exploration achievement for humanity.’,
, ‘China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on the 8th of last month that the Chang’e 6 probe successfully completed the lunar proximity braking under the control of Beijing Aerospace Control Center and smoothly entered the lunar orbit.’,
, “‘Chang’e’ is the moon goddess in Chinese mythology and also the name of China’s moon exploration project launched in 2004.”,
, ‘China’s success this time comes in the midst of escalating competition in space exploration between the United States and China. Although it started later compared to the US and Russia, China has been considered the most advanced country in lunar exploration since the 2010s. China aims to send a manned spacecraft to the moon by 2030.’,
, ‘China started its lunar exploration project in 2004, and successfully landed the unmanned space probe Chang’e 1 in 2007. In 2013, it succeeded in landing the Chang’e 3 on the front side of the moon.’,
, ‘Subsequently, Chang’e 4 was launched in December 2018 and made the first-ever landing on the backside of the moon in January 2019.’,
, ‘The Chinese aviation authorities developed the communication satellite Queqiao-2 to facilitate communication between the spacecraft and Earth for the lunar backside sample collection operation, and launched it on March 20th.’,
, ‘China National Space Administration announced on the 12th of last month that Queqiao-2 had successfully completed the connection test with the orbit and achieved successful results.\n’]