Far side of the moon

On the 25th of June, China made an immense statement in the world of space exploration. Their Chang’e-6 lunar probe, after a mission of nearly two months, touched down in the Inner Mongolia desert with some very special cargo: the first-ever samples from the moon's unseen far side. This mission was a big deal for the Chinese space agency, and it got the worldwide scientific community agog with excitement.

The Chang’e-6 blasted off in early May and successfully landed on a crater near the moon’s south pole a few weeks later. This area is tough because of its distance and rough terrain featuring giant craters and not many flat spots. The mission lasted 53 days, during which the probe did some heavy lifting—drilling into the surface, scooping up soil and rocks, and even snapping photos. Now, these samples are headed to Beijing for some serious analysis.

Obviously, scientists can’t wait to get their hands on these samples. The far side of the moon is the ultimate mysterious neighbour that nobody knows much about, and these rocks and soil could help answer big questions about the moon’s history. There are significant geological differences between the near and far sides of the moon, and these samples could shed light on how the moon was formed some 4.5 billion years ago—maybe even from a collision with an early version of Earth. Such exciting stuff, indeed!

But this isn’t just about science alone; there’s some serious competition going on here. The United States plans to return astronauts to the moon by 2026 with its Artemis 3 mission, but China is showing that it’s a major player in space exploration too. Both countries have their eyes on the lunar south pole, a region that might hold ice. This ice is super valuable because it can be turned into water, oxygen and hydrogen—basically, the essentials for future space missions.

China’s space officials said they welcome scientists from around the world to apply to study the lunar rock samples brought back by the Chang’e-6 probe...BUT there's a notable exception. Cooperation with the United States is hindered by the Wolf Amendment, a law which the Americans enacted in 2011 to ban NASA from direct bilateral cooperation with the Chinese unless the FBI says there is no national security risk. This obstacle would need to be removed to enable regular aerospace cooperation between those two.

Despite this limitation, China is open to working with scientists from other countries, such as their collaborators in the Chang’e-6 mission, namely, the European Space Agency, France, Italy and Pakistan.

Looking ahead, China is planning to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030 and even build a base there. This is part of their broader strategy to become a leader in space exploration, a field that’s been dominated by the United States and Russia for decades.

As I see it, the Chang’e-6 mission is massive for China’s space programme. It brought back invaluable samples from the moon's far side. The world is watching to see what new discoveries come from this mission and how it shapes the future of space exploration.