China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe has completed over 70 percent of its Earth-returning journey through its 380,000-kilometer distance, carrying the first-ever batch of lunar samples collected from the far side of the moon, the mission's official media channel announced on Friday.
The Chang'e-6 probe was launched from south China's Hainan Province on May 3, with the goal of bringing back these milestone lunar samples.
The lander-ascent combination successfully touched down in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on June 2, and the probe completed the sample collection operations in two days.
The ascent vehicle then lifted off from the lunar surface on June 4, carrying the precious cargo.
The ascender successfully rendezvoused and docked with the orbiter-returner combination on the lunar orbit on June 6. Shortly after the docking procedure, the container carrying the lunar samples was safely transferred from the ascender to the returner, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
As planned, the probe's returner, carrying the samples, is expected to land in the Siziwang Banner in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Chang'e-6 completes over 70 pct of journey back to Earth with moon samples
The Chang'e-6 mission made three major technological breakthroughs and a world-first accomplishment, an official of the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said at a press conference about the lunar exploration mission in Beijing on Thursday.
Vice Administrator of CNSA Bian Zhigang noted that the Chang'e-6 mission is a lunar exploration mission adopted with most advanced technologies to date in China's space exploration endeavors.
"The Chang'e-6 mission made breakthroughs in lunar retrograde orbit design and control, intelligent sampling on the moon and lunar ascent from its far side, and realized the first unmanned automatic sample collection and return from the far side of the moon in the world, setting another world record for China's aerospace program," Bian said.
Samples collected from the far side of the moon may help mankind further study the planet, said Li Chunlai, deputy chief designer of the Chang'e-6 mission, at the press conference.
"The samples collected from the South Pole-Aitken Basin may be very different from the samples collected from the front side, which is conducive to a more comprehensive understanding of the geological evolution history of the moon," Li said.
The mission also carried out cooperation with the European Space Agency, France, Italy and Pakistan on four scientific payloads to obtain valuable first-hand scientific data.
"We promised the orbiter and lander will each reserve a volume of 10 kg for international payloads. We fulfilled the promise and accumulated experience for us to perform more complex tasks in the future," Hu Hao, chief designer of the Chang'e-6 mission, told reporters.
CNSA official on Chang'e-6's major breakthroughs
