Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 23
A module of a Chinese lunar probe successfully took off from the far side of the Moon on Tuesday carrying samples to be taken back to Earth, state media reported.
The achievement is a world first, and the latest leap for Beijing’s decades-old space programme, which aims to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030.
The ascender module of the Chang’e-6 probe “lifted off from lunar surface”, state news agency Xinhua said, citing the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
It described it as “an unprecedented feat in human lunar exploration history”.
The Chang’e-6 module touched down on Sunday in the Moon’s immense South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the largest known impact craters in the solar system, according to the CNSA.
The probe’s technically complex 53-day mission began on May 3.
Source: AFP
