Chang'e 6
The first samples ever brought back from the far side of the Moon.
Key facts
- Agency
- China National Space Administration
- Type of mission
- Robotic sample return
- Target
- The Moon's far side: Apollo crater, South Pole–Aitken basin
- Launched
- 3 May 2024
- Samples returned
- 1,935.3 g of soil and drill core
- Status
- Completed 2024
The far side of the Moon always faces away from Earth, so a lander there cannot talk to us directly. Chang'e 6 relied on a relay satellite, Queqiao-2, placed in orbit around the Moon a few weeks earlier.
The lander touched down on 2 June 2024 Beijing time inside Apollo crater, which lies within the South Pole–Aitken basin, the largest and oldest clearly visible impact basin on the Moon, about 2,500 kilometres across. Over two days it drilled and scooped 1,935.3 grams of material. The ascent stage then lifted off from the far side, docked with the orbiter, and the capsule landed in Inner Mongolia on 25 June 2024.
What the samples showed
The far side has far fewer lava seas than the near side, and its crust is thicker. The Chang'e 6 basalts are about 2.8 billion years old, showing that the far side had volcanoes too, though fewer. Older fragments in the soil, including basalt about 4.2 billion years old and pieces of impact melt, help date the giant impact that made the basin. Its age matters because it is one of the oldest events recorded on the Moon.
Why it matters to meteorites
Many lunar meteorites probably come from the far side, but until 2024 no sample from a known far-side location existed to compare them with. Chang'e 6 carried instruments from France, Italy, Sweden and the European Space Agency, and a small Pakistani satellite.
Key dates
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 20 March 2024 | The relay satellite Queqiao-2 launched to lunar orbit. |
| 3 May 2024 | Chang'e 6 launched on a Long March 5 rocket. |
| 2 June 2024 | Landed in Apollo crater on the far side (Beijing time). |
| 4 June 2024 | The ascent stage lifted off from the far side. |
| 25 June 2024 | The capsule landed in Inner Mongolia with 1,935.3 g of far-side samples. |
See where this mission fits among all the others in the mission timeline.
Did you know?
Chang'e 6 was the first spacecraft to lift off from the far side of the Moon.
The South Pole–Aitken basin is so deep that its floor may expose material from the lunar mantle.