China space probe returns with rare Moon rocks

YEREVAN, JUNE 25, ARMENPRESS. China's lunar probe has returned to Earth with the first ever samples from the Moon's unexplored far side. 

After a nearly two-month long mission, the Chang'e-6 craft, named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology, landed in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, at 2:07 p.m. (Beijing Time) on Tuesday, Xinhua reports.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday extended congratulations on the complete success of the Chang'e-6 mission, calling this another landmark achievement in China's endeavor to become a space and sci-tech power.

That side of the moon - which always faces away from Earth - is technically challenging to reach due to its rugged terrain and deep craters.

Scientists are interested in this less-explored side as it is hoped it may contain traces of ice, which can be harvested for water, oxygen, and hydrogen.

China is the only country to have landed on the far side of the Moon, having done so before in 2019. This is China's sixth mission to the Moon, and its second to the far side. 

China aims to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030.