China Launches Ambitious Chang'e-6 Lunar Mission: Photo Coverage

Named after a Moon goddess from Chinese mythology, Chang'e-6 is a robotic lunar exploration mission aiming to collect soil and rock samples from the far side of the Moon. If successful, the mission will be able to extract some of the Moon's original samples for the first time in history.

Under the detailed plan, the mission seeks to take samples of the Moon's soil from a depth of up to 2 meters. The previous mission Chang'e-5 only managed to do it a little less than a meter deep due to extremely hard and solid terrain.

The mission is expected to last about 53 days and is scheduled to return to Earth on June 25, 2024.

Check out Sputnik's gallery for exclusive photos of China's seminal space launch!

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A guard walks near the launch platform for the Chang'e-6 mission of the China Lunar Exploration Programme at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan province.

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A crowd watches the exciting launch from a Hainan beach.

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The Long March 5 rocket, carrying the Chang'e-6 mission lunar probe, lifts off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center.

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Locals gather on a road to watch the historic space launch.

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The Long March 5 rocket moments before the Chang'e-6 launch.

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The Long March 5 rocket following China's successful space launch.