China eyes May 2024 launch for 1st-ever lunar sample-return mission to far side of the moon
Engineers working on China's Chang'e-6 mission have foregone family reunions over the Lunar New Year to help get the spacecraft ready for launch. The components of the complex Chang'e-6 moon sample return mission arrived at Wenchang spaceport on Hainan island in early January. There, a team of engineers and researchers, many with extensive experience from the 2020 Chang'e-5 mission, is intensively testing and adjusting the equipment, according to a China Central Television (CCTV) report. The mission will make the first ever attempt at collecting material from the far side of the moon and deliver it to Earth for analysis. Launch is planned for around May. Zhang Yang, managing engineer of Chang'e-6, said that Spring Festival, as Lunar New Year is known in China, is a critical period for the mission. "We must ensure that the probe is in good condition, and each step we take is quality guaranteed," Zhang said. As Travel ing back to see families was not p...