Let's look at the "dark side"... Learn about the mission to discover the secrets of the moon

Let's look at the "dark side"... Learn about the mission to discover the secrets of the moon

 When the Chang'e-4 mission touched down in the Von Kármán Crater on January 3, 2019, China became the first and only country to land on the far side of the Moon. Now another mission is being sent to the far side, this time aiming to return the first samples from the Moon's "hidden side" to Earth.

According to a lengthy report by CNN, the Chang’e-6 mission, which was launched on Friday, is scheduled to spend 53 days exploring the Antarctic-Aitken Basin, to study its geology and topography, in addition to collecting samples from various locations across the crater.

The South Pole-Aitken Basin is believed to be the largest and oldest crater on the Moon, spanning nearly a quarter of the Moon's surface and measuring about 1,550 miles (2,500 kilometers) in diameter. The impact crater is more than 5 miles (8 kilometers) deep.

Scientists hope that returning samples to Earth will help answer perennial questions about the intriguing far side, which has not been studied as deeply as the near side, as well as confirm the origin of the Moon.

“The far side of the Moon is completely different from the near side,” said Li Chunlai, deputy chief designer at the China National Space Administration. “The far side is mainly composed of ancient lunar crust and highlands, so there are a lot of scientific questions to be answered there.”