This Week in Launch: China to launch mission to collect samples from the far side of the Moon

This week SpaceX will attempt another three launch week, with two of those mission scheduled from the West Coast. The headline mission for the week will actually come out of China, a Long March 5 rocket is scheduled to liftoff Friday with the country’s next lunar sample return mission, this time from the far side of the Moon.

This week’s launches:

• May 1 (Wednesday)
  • SpaceX | Falcon 9 | Worldview Legion 1 & 2 | 11:30 A.M. PT
    • SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California
  • SpaceX | Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-55 | 9:43 P.M. ET
    • SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida
• May 3 (Friday)
  • CASC | Long March 5 | Chang’e 6 | 5:30 A.M. ET
    • LC-101, Wenchang Space Launch Site, China
  • SpaceX | Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 8-2 | 7:59 P.M. PT
    • SLC-4E, Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

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China shooting for another lunar first

Launching on the nation’s largest rocket, Chang’e 6 is set to lift off this coming Friday. The mission will see an attempt at China’s second lunar sample return, this time from the far side of the Moon, a first ever.

The Chang’e 6 spacecraft is consisted of several modules, the lander, ascent stage, the orbiter, and return capsule. This is a carbon copy of the Chang’e 5 mission, as Chang’e 6 was a spare vehicle. On board will also be several international payloads from France, Italy, Sweden, and Pakistan.

Being able to compare lunar samples from both sides of the Moon will be huge scientifically. However, until we learn more about what is over there, the far side of the Moon remains rather useless for long term exploration as the challenges with setting up a base there might not be worth the reward. This is why NASA has focused on the lunar south pole.

China’s lunar exploration program has been picking up speed in recent years with bringing on new partners and reiterating it’s on track for a human landing on the Moon by 2030. While NASA doesn’t consider this a race, as NASA is returning to the Moon and landing on it for the first time, China is the closets to upending any claims of “firsts” for NASA’s partners. Like Japan’s promise of “first non-American to land on the Moon.”

It’s important to note that China has the luxury of choosing what it share to the world. Unlike NASA, China’s space program is considered a state secret and details of missions are only shared when its advantages to China.