China’s Chang’e-6 Collects Samples From Far Side of the Moon

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The hole dug by Chang 'e-6 on the far side of the moon is shaped like the Chinese character "Zhong," representing China. Photo: "Chang 'e-6 Lunar Probe" Weibo account

China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft has collected samples from the moon’s far side and is on track to bring them back to Earth, the authorities said, in a historic mission that marks the first ever attempted retrieval of matter from the rarely explored terrain.

While collecting samples, the probe left a mark on the lunar surface that resembled the Chinese character “zhong” (中) — the first character of Zhongguo (中国), which means China, a photo posted by the mission’s official social media account showed.

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China’s Chang’e-6 mission collected samples from the moon's far side, landing in the Aitken Basin and marking the surface with the character “zhong.”
The spacecraft, featuring European scientific instruments, entered lunar orbit after a two-day collection effort and will return to Inner Mongolia in late June.
This mission, China’s second on the moon's far side, aims to share data and samples globally for collaborative research.

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