Spacecraft | DD News

October 18, 2026 11:24 AM

Japan to launch spacecraft on a mission to get samples from a Martian moon

Japan is set to launch a spacecraft on the world's first mission to bring back samples from Phobos, one of the two small, potato-shaped moons orbiting Mars. Scientists hope the mission, which is expected to take five years, will provide clues to how Phobos and its smaller sibling Deimos formed, and hopefully even shed light on the origins of life in the solar system. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's launch of the spacecraft Tuesday on a new Japanese mainstay H-3 rocket comes as the Uni...

June 6, 2024 3:32 PM

China’s Chang’e-6 transfers moon samples to spacecraft, set for return to Earth

China's Chang'e-6 probe transferred samples it collected from the moon's far side to a spacecraft in lunar orbit on Thursday, state news agency Xinhua reported. After receiving the samples, the uncrewed spacecraft will fly back to Earth, with an expected landing in China's Inner Mongolia region on June 25. If successful, China will be the first country to ever return lunar matter from the side of the moon that permanently faces away from Earth. The Chang'e-6 probe took off from the moon's far ...

May 3, 2024 4:17 PM

China launches historic mission to retrieve samples from the far side of the moon

China on Friday launched an uncrewed spacecraft on a nearly two-month mission to retrieve rocks and soil from the far side of the moon, the first country to make such an ambitious attempt. The Long March-5, China's largest rocket, blasted off at 5:27 p.m. Beijing time from Wenchang Space Launch Center on the southern island of Hainan with the more than 8 metric ton Chang'e-6 probe. Chang'e-6 is tasked with landing in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon, which perpetually fa...