China has already "landed" on the back side of the Moon for the second time - with the Changye-6 spacecraft, which will collect soil samples

Currently, China is the only country that has landed its spacecraft on the far side of the Moon (the previous Chang'e-4 mission was in 2019).

According to China's National Space Administration, the Chang'e-6 probe successfully landed at a pre-selected location on the far side of the Moon. Its mission is to collect and bring back to Earth material samples from the South Pole-Aitken Basin region, where researchers believe there is water ice that could be used for oxygen and fuel production during potential sustained human presence on the Moon.

As planned, Chang'e-6 is expected to start drilling and collecting material using a robotic arm within 48 hours of landing. The mission itself will last about 53 days.

"Samples from the far side of the Moon are important for a deeper understanding of the characteristics and differences between the two sides of the satellite, as well as for uncovering its mysteries," said Zen Xinguo, a scientist at the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in a comment to state media.

Chang'e-6 was launched to the Moon on May 6 and reached lunar orbit within four days. Over the following weeks, the spacecraft meticulously examined the landing site and eventually landed as planned on June 2.

Chang'e-6 is just one in a series of Chinese missions aimed at ensuring the presence of Chinese astronauts on the Moon by the end of the decade. A few days earlier, Russia ratified an agreement with Beijing to jointly create the International Lunar Research Station near the Moon's south pole.

By that time, the USA also plans to return to the Moon (for the first time since the end of the Apollo program in 1972) through the Artemis mission series.