China‘s Chang’e-6 has unfurled the first flag on the dark side of the moon, before beginning its return journey to Earth.
Before departing, the rover also collected the very first samples of rock and soil from the side of the moon that always faces away from us.
The ascender lifted off at 00:38 BST Tuesday and transferred the samples to a reentry craft which should land in the deserts of Inner Mongolia around June 25.
Their successful return would not only mark an enormous leap forward for China’s space program, but could also reveal the secrets of the moon’s ancient history.
Because the moon has an ‘Earth-centered’ orbit, the ‘dark’ side always faces away from the Earth, making it an extremely challenging place to land spacecraft.
This is the second time a Chinese flag has been raised on the moon, and is the eighth flag to be raised along the moon alongside six American flags placed by the Apollo missions. However, Unlike the flags placed during the Apollo missions, Chang’e 6’s small flag emerged on a retractable arm deployed from the side of the lunar lander and was not placed onto the lunar soil, according to an animation of the mission released by the agency
A Chinese moon rover has raised the first national flag on the dark side of the Moon before returning to Earth with samples of lunar material
Chang’e 6 left Earth aboard a Long March 5 rocket on May 3, 2024, and began its descent to the lunar surface on Sunday.
China National Space Administration (CNSA) said in a statement that Chang’e-6 ‘withstood the test of high temperature on the far side of the moon’.
This mission was particularly challenging since the lander could not rely on direct communication with the Earth while on the moon’s far side.
To stay in touch with the craft, the CNSA used Queqiao-2, a 1,200kg (2,645 lbs) relay satellite put into orbit in March to bounce signals back to Earth.
The lander touched down in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, an 8-mile (13km) deep impact crater believed to have been formed more than 14 billion years ago.
As one of the oldest impact craters on the lunar surface, rock samples collected from here could provide scientists with precious information about the moon’s early formation.
The Chang’e 6 lander has now taken off aboard its ascender (pictured) from the Moon and has transferred the samples to a reentry capsule due to land on Earth around June 25
Chang’e-6 landed on the moon’s far side on the moon at 06:23 Beijing time on Sunday 2 June
Chang’e drilled into the lunar surface (pictured) to extract up to 2kg (4.4lbs) of lunar material from the South Pole-Aitken Basin, an impact crater created more than 4 billion years ago
Chang’e 6 has the ability to drill 2m (6.6 feet) into the lunar surface and can hold up to 2kg (4.4 lbs) of lunar material for return to Earth.
Beyond its scientific importance, the mission is also a symbolic step forward for China’s ambitious national space program.
Before departing the rover raised a Chinese flag, the second Chinese flag to fly on the moon – joining six American flags placed during the Apollo moon missions between 1969 and 1972.
Unlike the flags placed during the Apollo missions Chang’e 6’s small flag emerged on a retractable arm deployed from the side of the lunar lander and was not placed onto the lunar soil, according to an animation of the mission released by the agency.
But, another sign of the nation’s ambition, the flag has been constructed from volcanic basalt rock fibres and could last on the moon for 10,000 years according to CNSA.
These fibres are created by heating and stretching rocks similar to those found on the moon and are resistant to corrosion and heat.
Professor Zhou Changyi, one of the rover’s designers, told state broadcasters: ‘Going ahead, such basalt fibres may also be used on the moon to make other things.
The lander was operated from a control centre in Beijing (pictured), but the signal needed to be bounced off a relay satellite launched in May in order to reach the far side of the moon
‘We hope to use the basalt on the moon to make building material and perhaps even make contributions to a future moon base.’
The location of this landing, close to the moon’s south pole, is also significant since this area may hold the frozen water which could be essential to a future moon base.
This is the sixth in China’s series of Chang’e moon missions, named after the goddess of the moon.
China has already established its own space station to which it regularly sends astronauts and has announced its aim of sending humans to the moon by 2030.
The Chinese space agency plans three more crewed missions this decade as it continues to search for water and a suitable location for a permanent base.
The samples collected (pictured) could indicate whether there is water at the Moon’s south pole which could help establish a future lunar base
This landing comes amid increasing competition and what NASA chief Bill Nelson called a new ‘space race’.
In January, Japan became the fifth nation to land on the moon when its SLIM rover made a precision landing on the lunar surface.
America has also targeted the lunar south pole for its first crewed return to the moon in more than 50 years.
NASA has recently pushed back the date of its Artemis-3 mission to 2026 but also aims to have humans walk on the moon before the end of the decade.
American firm Intuitive Machines also landed a craft on the moon as part of a NASA-funded mission in February; however, the craft toppled over upon landing.
