China sent a mission to the far side of the moon

A mission has launched in China that, for the first time in the history of space exploration, is expected to bring soil samples from the far side of the Moon to Earth.

The carrier rocket with the Chang’e-6 probe was launched from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center. The device is named after the Moon Goddess, one of the most popular figures in Chinese mythology.

The mission will last 53 days. She will collect about two kilograms of lunar regolith for subsequent analysis.

The probe must not only successfully land on the far—invisible—side of the Moon near the South Pole in a huge crater measuring two and a half thousand kilometers in diameter and eight kilometers deep. There, the device will conduct scientific experiments, as well as collect rocks and lunar soil.

If successful, Chang’e 6 will become the first space mission in history to bring back to Earth samples of regolith from the far side of the Moon.