A Chinese spacecraft lands on the far side of the moon to collect rocks – in the wake of the growing space rivalry with the USA

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon on Sunday to collect soil and rock samples that could shed light on differences between the less-explored region and the better-known front side.

The landing module landed at 6:23 a.m. Beijing time in a huge crater called the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the Chinese space agency said.

The mission is the sixth in the Chang'e lunar exploration program, named after a Chinese moon goddess. It is the second mission to bring back samples, after Chang'e 5, which did so from the Earth-facing side in 2020.

The lunar program is part of a growing rivalry with the United States – still the leader in space exploration – and other countries, including Japan and India. China has launched its own space station into orbit and regularly sends crews there.

The emerging world power wants to put a man on the moon before 2030, making it the second nation after the United States to do so. America plans to land astronauts on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, although NASA postponed the planned date to 2026 earlier this year.

U.S. efforts to launch spacecraft on private rockets have been repeatedly delayed, with a last-minute computer problem preventing Boeing's first astronaut flight from launching on Saturday.

A Japanese billionaire canceled his plan to orbit the moon on Saturday due to uncertainties surrounding the development of a SpaceX mega rocket. NASA plans to use the rocket to send its astronauts to the moon.

China's current mission will see the lander use a mechanical arm and a drill to collect up to two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of surface and subsurface material in about two days.

An ascender on top of the lander will then return the samples in a metal vacuum container to another module orbiting the moon. The container will be transferred to a reentry capsule that is expected to return to Earth on June 25 in the deserts of Inner Mongolia, China.

Missions to the far side of the Moon are more difficult because it does not face Earth and requires a relay satellite to maintain communications. The terrain is also more rugged and there are fewer flat areas to land on.

The South Pole-Aitken Basin, an impact crater formed more than four billion years ago, is 13 kilometers deep and 2,500 kilometers in diameter, according to a report by China's Xinhua news agency.

It is the oldest and largest crater of its kind on the moon and could therefore provide the earliest information about it, Xinhua said, adding that the massive impact may have ejected material from deep beneath the surface.

The Associated Press