China's Chang'e-6 probe has lifted off from the far side of the Moon, starting its journey back towards Earth, the national space agency said.
The probe's successful departure on Tuesday from the lunar surface means China is closer to becoming the first country to return samples from the far side of the Moon, which permanently faces away from Earth.
The probe departed at 7.38am local time (11.38pm GMT) after successfully completing its sample collection on Sunday and Monday.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) said Chang'e-6 "withstood the test of high temperature on the far side of the Moon".
Compared with its predecessor Chang'e-5, which retrieved samples from the near side, Chang'e-6 faced an additional technical challenge of operating without direct communication with ground stations on Earth.
Instead, the probe relied on relay satellite Queqiao-2, put into orbit in April, for communications.
The probe used a drill and robotic arm to dig up soil on and below the Moon's surface, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Chang'e-6 displayed China's national flag for the first time on the far side of Moon at the end of the mission, Beijing Daily said.
The probe is now in lunar orbit and will join up with another spacecraft in orbit, CNSA said.
The samples will then be transferred to a return module, which will fly back to Earth, with a landing in China's Inner Mongolia region expected around June 25.
The return of the lunar samples to Earth is being followed by scientists around the world, who hope the soil collected can help answer questions about the origins of the solar system.
The mission has also been closely followed in China as a source of national pride. Last month, thousands of tourists flocked to various viewing spots in the southern island province of Hainan to watch Chang'e-6 blasting off.
Pictures of a hole left on the lunar surface from the sample digging by Chang'e-6 went viral on Tuesday on Chinese social media platform Weibo after state broadcaster CCTV said the crater was shaped like the character "zhong", a nod to the Chinese word for China, "Zhongguo".
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
T20 World Cup Qualifier
Final: Netherlands beat PNG by seven wickets
Qualified teams
1. Netherlands
2. PNG
3. Ireland
4. Namibia
5. Scotland
6. Oman
T20 World Cup 2020, Australia
Group A: Sri Lanka, PNG, Ireland, Oman
Group B: Bangladesh, Netherlands, Namibia, Scotland
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
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