BEIJING, June 26 (Xinhua) -- China's Chang'e-6 probe, comprising an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a returner, has brought back the world's first samples collected from the far side of the moon. Here is a timeline of the mission:
-- The relay satellite Queqiao-2 was launched by a Long March-8 rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province on March 20 to provide Earth-moon communications services.
-- Queqiao-2 entered its target elliptical orbit around the moon on April 2 and had completed in-orbit communication tests by April 12.
-- The Chang'e-6 probe was launched by a Long March-5 rocket from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on May 3.
-- After a near-moon braking procedure, Chang'e-6 successfully entered its circumlunar orbit on May 8.
-- The lander-ascender combination of Chang'e-6 separated from the orbiter-returner combination on May 30.
-- Supported by the Queqiao-2 relay satellite, the lander-ascender combination of Chang'e-6 successfully landed at the designated landing area in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin on June 2.
-- The spacecraft conducted intelligent and rapid sampling on the far side of the moon, using a drill to collect subsurface samples and grabbing samples on the surface with a robotic arm. After the sampling was completed, a Chinese national flag carried by the lander was unfurled for the first time on the far side of the moon.
-- The ascender of Chang'e-6, carrying the samples collected from the moon's far side, lifted off from lunar surface on June 4.
-- The ascender of Chang'e-6 successfully rendezvoused and docked with the orbiter-returner combination in lunar orbit, and transferred the samples to the returner on June 6.
-- After separating from the orbiter, the returner of Chang'e-6 returned to Earth on June 25, bringing back the world's first samples collected from the moon's far side. It landed in Siziwang Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. ■