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Photo taken by the rover Yutu 2 (Jade Rabbit 2) on Jan 11, 2019 shows
the lander of the Chang'e 4 probe. [Photo/Xinhua/China National Space
Administration] NANJING -- China aims to launch the Chang'e-6 probe to collect
samples in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon
around 2024, said a space expert on Saturday. Hu Hao, the chief designer of the third stage of China's lunar
exploration program, told the China Space Conference, held in Nanjing,
east China's Jiangsu Province, that detailed designing on the mission is
in progress. China launched the Chang'e-5 probe in 2020, successfully bringing home 1,731 grams of moon samples. As the backup of the Chang'e-5 mission, the Chang'e-6 mission would
also collect lunar samples automatically for comprehensive analysis and
research. The China National Space Administration has invited scientists around
the world to participate in the program, offering to carry solicited
payloads. Four payloads developed by scientists from France, Sweden, Italy,
Russia and China have been preliminarily selected. After the detailed
plan of the Chang'e-6 mission comes out, the payloads will be finally
determined, said Hu. China will carry out lunar resource exploration, scientific research
and technological experiments in the Chang'e-6, Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8
missions, aiming to build a prototype scientific research station on the
moon by 2030, Hu added.
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