- Chang'e-6 has returned to Earth with the first samples from the moon's far side
- The craft touched down in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region today
China has once again made spaceflight history as its lunar lander returns to Earth with the first rock samples from the far side of the moon.
The Chinese lunar probe Chang'e-6 touched down in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 06:07 GMT (14:07 Beijing time) this morning.
Chang'e-6 brought its precious cargo back to Earth after a months-long journey to the largely unexplored far side of the moon.
It returned with it up to 4.4 lbs (2kg) of rocky lunar regolith collected by drill from the moon's South Pole-Aitken basin.
Scientists are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to study these samples which could reveal vital clues about the solar system's early history.
China's Chang'e-6 lander (pictured) has returned to Earth with the first rocky samples from the moon's far side
The lander has collected around 4.4lbs (2kg) of rocks and regolith from the lunar surface which it has now carried safely back to Earth
After the crafts landing via parachute in Inner Mongolia, a team of scientists reached the module within minutes.
'I now declare that the Chang´e 6 Lunar Exploration Mission achieved complete success,' Zhang Kejian, Director of the China National Space Administration said shortly in a televised news conference after the landing.
China's leader Xi Jinping sent a message of congratulations to the Chang'e team, saying that it was a 'landmark achievement in our country's efforts at becoming a space and technological power'.
According to CCTV, a state broadcaster, the samples will now be airlifted to Beijing to remove the sample container and its contents.
Chang'e-6 collected the rocks from the Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin, a crater believed to have been formed over 4 billion years ago
After collecting the samples the ascender module (pictured) detached from the lander and returned to lunar orbit
These samples are of particular scientific importance because they are the first to ever be collected from the South Pole-Aitken basin.
This 1,600-mile-wide (2,500 kilometres) is believed to have been formed 4.26 billion years ago.
That makes it hundreds of millions of years earlier than many of the other craters on the lunar surface which were formed in an event called the 'late heavy bombardment'.
The samples could reveal more about the very early formation of the moon as well as potentially show whether there is enough water at the lunar south pole to support human colonies.
They 'are expected to answer one of the most fundamental scientific questions in lunar science research: what geologic activity is responsible for the differences between the two sides?' said Zongyu Yue, a geologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Chinese scientists are expected to make an initial analysis of the samples before sharing data and collaborating with international researchers.
Chang'e-6 consists of four main components: the lander, the return capsule, an orbiter, and a small rocket carried to the moon called an ascender.
The probe took off from Earth on March 3 aboard a Chinese Long March rocket which carried it into lunar orbit.
On June 1, the orbiter and lander modules separated and the craft made its perilous descent onto the lunar surface.
The samples (pictured during collection) could offer scientists an insight into the early formation of the solar system
After successfully making a soft landing near the moon's south pole the craft used a drill and a scoop to collect regolith and rock samples.
These samples were then launched back into orbit aboard the ascendor which met up with the orbiter on June 6 and began the journey back to Earth on June 21.
This mission was particularly technically challenging because no radio signals from Earth are able to directly reach the moon's far side – a largely unexplored region of the moon.
Because the moon is 'tidally locked' to the Earth, it rotates in exactly the same time as it takes to orbit the Earth.
This causes one side of the moon to permanently face away from the planet, although it is not permanently dark as the misnomer 'dark side of the moon' may suggest.
Since the Moon's far side (pictured by Chang'e-6) has no plate tectonics, the ancient craters provide a window into how the planet formed
To reach the far side, signals must be sent via a relay satellite which has to be placed in lunar orbit in advance of a landing.
Chang'e-6 received its control signals through Queqiao-2, a 1,200kg (2,645 lbs) relay satellite put into orbit in March to bounce signals back to Earth.
This is the sixth of eight missions in China's ambitious lunar program and the second time that the nation has placed a lander on the Moon's far side – but this early mission didn't come back to Earth.
Looking forward, the country plans to launch Chang'e-7 in 2026 and Chang'e-8 in 2028.
Chang'e-8 will test technologies needed to establish a manned base on the moon's south pole by the 2030s.
Since this region of the moon is believed to be rich in frozen water there is an escalating space race between nations looking to establish a permanent presence.
During the mission, Chang'e-6 also flew a Chinese flag made of volcanic basalt rock fibres that could last on the moon for 10,000 years
Chang'e-6 also highlighted some technologies which could pave the way for the base-building ambition.
Before taking off back towards Earth, the lander waved a Chinese flag made of volcanic basalt rock fibres that could potentially last on the moon for 10,000 years according to the Chinese National Space Agency.
These fibres are created by heating and stretching rocks similar to those found on the moon and are resistant to corrosion and heat.
Professor Zhou Changyi, one of the rover's designers, told state broadcasters: 'Going ahead, such basalt fibres may also be used on the moon to make other things.'
Unlike the flags placed during the Apollo missions Chang'e 6's small flag emerged on a retractable arm deployed from the side of the lunar lander and was not placed onto the lunar soil, according to an animation of the mission released by the agency.
