China’s Chang’e-6 Mission

Current Context : China’s space exploration successful lands Chang’e-6 lunar probe on the far side of the moon.

• The probe landed in the extreme South Pole- Aitken Basin.

ABOUT CHANG’E-6

• It is a 53-day mission to explore the unexplored part of the moon.
• Launched on May 3, 2024.
• Objective : to collect rock samples from the unexplored part of the huge crater formed on the far side of the moon- Aitken Basin (extreme south pole of the moon).
• It is the first lunar mission to take samples and return from the moon’s far side.
• Recently, India’s Chandrayaan-3 mission landed on the South Pole of the Near Side of the Moon.

ABOUT FAR SIDE OF THE MOON

• It is the hemisphere of the Moon that always faces away from Earth (dark side of the Moon).
• This happens because the Moon is tidally locked with Earth due to gravitational pull.