A probe launched by China in early May landed on the dark side of the Moon to collect samples, marking a new milestone in the progress of the country's ambitious space programme, which is trying to catch up with the two dominant countries in the field.
The Chang'e 6 probe spacecraft, which lifted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the tropical island of Hainan (south), landed in the huge South Pole - Eitken basin, one of the largest known craters created by an impact in the solar system, New China reported, citing the Chinese space agency.
The 53-day mission, which began on 3 May, is expected to allow, according to the official Chinese news agency, to collect for the first time samples from the dark side of the Moon, an area of the Earth's satellite that is rarely explored.
The probe will try to collect lunar material and conduct experiments in the landing zone.
For this, the vessel will use a drill to collect samples below the surface, and a robotic arm to collect samples from the surface.
The process is expected to be completed within the next two days, explained the China News.
Chang'e 6 will then try to depart from the dark side of the moon.
In 2019, China had already sent a spacecraft to the dark side of the Moon, but it did not proceed to collect samples.
Scientists believe that the dark side of the Moon - so called because it is unseen from Earth, not because no rays of the Sun reach it - is promising for research, as the craters on it are not covered by ancient lava flows as much as those on the side that is closer and more visible.
It can then collect samples that will help to understand how the Moon formed.
«The samples collected by Chang'e 6 will have a geological age of about four billion years,» explained Ge Ping, deputy director of the Chinese Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center.
Great ambitions
China has greatly increased its space programme under Xi Jinping's presidency, spending billions of dollars to catch up with and possibly even surpass the two leading countries in the field, the US and Russia.
It has already recorded several successes, probably most spectacularly the construction of the Tiangong («Heavenly Palace») space station, where a new team of three astronauts was sent in April.
China was also able to send a spacecraft (a small rover) to the surface of Mars. It is the third country to send a man into space by its own means.
Beijing aims to deploy a manned mission to the Moon by 2030 and to build a lunar base.
The rapid progress of the Chinese space programme is, however, a cause for concern in Washington.
In April, Bill Nelson, the head of NASA, said that the US had entered into a «race» with China.
«We believe that much of what they call the civilian space program is actually a military program,» he said, testifying before a House committee on government spending in Washington.
