Chang'e 6

Chang'e 6 (Chinese: 嫦娥六号; pinyin: Cháng'é liùhào) was the sixth robotic lunar exploration mission by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the second CNSA lunar sample-return mission. Like its predecessors in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e. It was the first lunar mission to retrieve samples from the far side of the Moon; all previous samples were collected from the near side.

The mission began on 3 May 2024 when the spacecraft was launched from Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan Island. Its lander and rover touched down on the lunar far side on 1 June 2024. The lander's robotic scoop and drill took samples with a total mass of 1935.3 grams from the lunar surface; the ascender module then carried these into lunar orbit on 3 June 2024. The ascender docked with the orbiter module in lunar orbit on 6 June 2024 and transferred the samples to an atmospheric re-entry module which then returned to Earth. The mission's lander and rover also conducted scientific experiments on the lunar surface.