China launches probe set to probe dark side of moon
May 3 (UPI) -- China hopes to return samples from the far side of the moon in a mission that started Friday with the unmanned rocket launch from the Wenchang Space Launch Center.
The Chang'e-6 probe will land on the dark side of the moon -- the portion that is away from the view of the Earth -- to collect samples and return them to Earth during the 53-day mission.
Chinese researchers hope this will eventually lead them to a human moon landing.
The Chang'e lander will gather up about 2,000 grams of moon samples with a drill. Then, they will be loaded into an ascent vehicle that will leave the moon's surface to dock with an orbiter that will carry the samples back to Earth, all autonomously.
Researchers said they hope the samples will give stronger clues to how the noon was formed. The mission is part of a series of unmanned Chinese flights before a human landing tentatively scheduled for 2030.
The Chang'e-7 probe will search the moon's south pole for water, while Chang'e-8 will examine the feasibility of building a base on the lunar surface. China became the first country to land a rover on the dark side of the moon five years ago.
Politically, the mission could establish China as the new leader in lunar exploration while NASA and its commercial partners, including SpaceX, continue to take baby steps with the Artemis project that has faced with cost overruns.
"I think it's not beyond the pale that China would suddenly say, "We are here. You stay out," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said, according to NBC News. He expressed the urgency for the United States to get its lunar plans back on track.
