Current:Home > FinanceChinese spacecraft lands on far side of moon -Quantum Growth Learning
Chinese spacecraft lands on far side of moon
View
Date:2025-04-17 07:29:28
Just hours after NASA was forced to scrap the Florida launch of the Boeing Starliner for the second time, a Chinese spacecraft landed on the far side of the moon Sunday to collect soil and rock samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side.
The landing module touched down at 6:23 a.m. Beijing time in a huge crater known as the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the China National Space Administration said.
The mission is the sixth in the Chang'e moon exploration program, which is named after a Chinese moon goddess. It is the second designed to bring back samples, following the Chang'e 5, which did so from the near side in 2020.
The moon program is part of a growing rivalry with the U.S. — still the leader in space exploration — and others, including Japan and India. China has put its own space station in orbit and regularly sends crews there.
The emerging global power aims to put a person on the moon before 2030, which would make it the second nation after the United States to do so. America is planning to land astronauts on the moon again — for the first time in more than 50 years — though NASA pushed the target date back to 2026 earlier this year.
U.S. efforts to use private sector rockets to launch spacecraft have been repeatedly delayed. Last-minute computer trouble nixed the planned maiden launch of Boeing's first astronaut flight Saturday from Cape Canaveral. The Boeing Starliner, carrying two astronauts bound for the International Space Station, was less than four minutes from takeoff when a computer system triggered an automatic hold. NASA initially said it would attempt another launch Sunday, before delaying the potential launch until at least Wednesday.
Last month, trouble with a pressure relief valve in the Starliner's Atlas 5 rocket, along a helium leak in the capsule's propulsion module, scrubbed a May 6 launch attempt.
The first piloted flight of the Starliner is Boeing's answer to SpaceX's Crew Dragon, an already operational, less expensive spacecraft that has carried 50 astronauts, cosmonauts and civilians into orbit in 13 flights, 12 of them to the space station, since an initial piloted test flight in May 2020.
Earlier Saturday, a Japanese billionaire called off his plan to orbit the moon because of uncertainty over the development of a mega rocket by SpaceX. NASA is planning to use the rocket to send its astronauts to the moon.
In China's current mission, the lander is to use a mechanical arm and a drill to gather up to 4.4 pounds of surface and underground material for about two days.
An ascender atop the lander will then take the samples in a metal vacuum container back to another module that is orbiting the moon. The container will be transferred to a re-entry capsule that is due to return to Earth in the deserts of China's Inner Mongolia region about June 25.
Missions to the moon's far side are more difficult because it doesn't face the Earth, requiring a relay satellite to maintain communications. The terrain is also more rugged, with fewer flat areas to land.
- In:
- Spaceship
- Moon
- China
- Space
veryGood! (9819)
Related
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Bill for “forever chemicals” manufacturers to pay North Carolina water systems advances
- Johnson & Johnson to pay $700 million to 42 states in talc baby powder lawsuit
- Oprah says book club pick 'Familiaris' by David Wroblewski 'brilliantly' explores life's purpose
- NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
- Raytheon discriminates against older job applicants, AARP alleges
- Bill would rename NYC subway stop after Stonewall, a landmark in LGBTQ+ rights movement
- Jay-Z’s Roc Nation to drum up support for private school vouchers in Philadelphia
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- AP sources: 8 people with possible Islamic State ties arrested in US on immigration violations
Ranking
- Toyota to invest $922 million to build a new paint facility at its Kentucky complex
- How does Men's College World Series work? 2024 CWS format, bracket, teams
- American investor Martin Shkreli accused of copying and sharing one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album
- Top investigator in Karen Read murder case questioned over inappropriate texts
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- Levi Wright's Mom Shares Moving Tribute to 3-Year-Old Son One Week After His Death
- Arkansas governor calls for special session on tax cuts and funds for hunting and fishing agency
- Fire kills hundreds of caged animals, including puppies and birds, at famous market in Thailand
Recommendation
Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
United States men's national soccer team friendly vs. Brazil: How to watch, rosters
Tiger Woods feeling at home with 'hot, humid' conditions at US Open
Bill for “forever chemicals” manufacturers to pay North Carolina water systems advances
Global Warming Set the Stage for Los Angeles Fires
Virginia NAACP sues school board for reinstating Confederate names
North Carolina lawmakers approve mask bill that allows health exemption after pushback
Oprah Winfrey is recovering after emergency room trip for gastroenteritis