WENCHANG: China launched a probe on Friday to collect samples from the far side of the Moon, a world first as Beijing pushes ahead with an ambitious programme that aims to send a crewed lunar mission by 2030. A rocket carrying the Chang'e-6 lunar probe blasted off from the Wenchang Space Launch Centre in southern China's Hainan province just before 5:30 pm, journalists near the site said. Heavy rain engulfed the site just minutes before the launch began, they said, with hundreds of onlookers gathered nearby to witness the latest leap for China's decades-long space programme.
The Chang'e-6 aims to collect around two kilograms of lunar samples from the far side of the Moon and bring them back to Earth for analysis. State news agency Xinhua hailed it as "the first endeavour of its kind in the history of human lunar exploration".
It is a technically complex 53-day mission that will also see it attempt an unprecedented launch from the side of the Moon that always faces away from Earth.
"The whole mission is fraught with numerous challenges, with each step interconnected and nerve-wracking," Wang Qiong, deputy chief designer of the Chang'e-6 mission, told Xinhua.
The probe is set to land in the immense South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the largest known impact craters in the solar system.
Once there, it will scoop up lunar soil and rocks, and carry out other experiments in the landing zone. It must then lift off from the Moon's surface and retrace its steps back home.
China has notched several notable achievements, including building a space station called Tiangong, or "heavenly palace", to which it sent a fresh crew of three astronauts last month.
Chang'e-6 is the first of three high-wire uncrewed missions to the Moon planned by China this decade.
Its successor, Chang'e-7, will scour the lunar south pole for water, while Chang'e-8 will attempt to establish the technical feasibility of building a planned base, known as the International Lunar Research Station, with Beijing saying a "basic model" will be completed by 2030.
Scientists say the Moon's dark side -- so-called because it is invisible from Earth, not because it never catches the sun's rays -- holds great promise for research because its craters are less covered by ancient lava flows than the near side.
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