Beijing, (TDI): President Xi Jinping on Monday called for intensified efforts in China’s space exploration endeavors, urging continued hard work and faster progress.
His remarks came during a meeting with space scientists and engineers involved in the Chang’e-6 lunar mission at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
The Chang’e-6 probe, launched earlier this year on May 3, achieved a historic feat by returning to Earth on June 25, bringing back 1,935.3 grams of lunar samples from the far side of the moon— a first in history.
Hailing the mission as a landmark in China’s space program, Xi emphasized that it marked a major breakthrough in several key technologies, representing significant progress in the nation’s quest for leadership in space exploration.
“Chang’e-6 is an important milestone, not just for Beijing’s lunar exploration project, but also in advancing global scientific know-how,” Xi noted.
China’s lunar exploration program, launched 20 years ago, has yielded impressive results in both scientific discovery and technological innovation.
Xi underscored that the program had developed a cost-effective approach to space exploration, contributing greatly to the advancement of China’s space industry and broader human exploration efforts.
Reflecting on China’s broader progress in space, Xi highlighted the transformative growth of the industry since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949.
Also Read: China’s Geespace Launches Advance Satellites
“From modest beginnings, China’s space sector has achieved historic and high-quality development, growing from strength to strength over the past 75 years,” he remarked.
While the moon has been a focus of exploration for decades, with more than 100 lunar missions undertaken since the 1950s, most have concentrated on its near side.
Successful sample return missions from this region, including ten previous instances, were largely confined to the near side.
However, the far side of the moon has long posed a formidable challenge for scientists and engineers worldwide.
Breakthrough in Moon Research
In 2019, China made a global breakthrough with the Chang’e-4 mission, becoming the first nation to land on the moon’s far side.
This was followed by the Chang’e-5 mission in 2020, which retrieved lunar samples from the near side— the freshest samples obtained since the 1970s.
The June 2024 return of the Chang’e-6 probe, carrying the first-ever samples from the far side of the moon, is seen as a historic achievement for China.
Also Read: China launches Shenzhou-18 crew to Tiangong Space Station
Landing in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, the mission has solidified China’s position as a leader in space exploration, according to Professor Kang Guohua of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
“The Chang’e-6 mission underscores China’s growing leadership in the global space arena,” he said, adding that the unique samples hold immense potential for future scientific research and deep-space exploration.
