Chang'e 6 will land on and bring back lunar samples from the far side of the moon at location 43.0°S 154.0°W, near the southern edge of the Apollo crater.

There is interest in exploring this south polar region due to the possibility of water ice. Also, the region could contain material ejected from the lunar mantle, which can provide insights into the history of the Earth-moon system.

quickmap.lroc.asu.edu/?camera=…
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Similar to Chang'e 5, the Chang'e 6 spacecraft consists of 4 main modules - the Service Module, the Return Vehicle, the Lander and the Ascent Vehicle.

The lander includes a coring drill and a robotic arm to collect samples.

There is no rover, although the mission carries a few other instruments.

The solar powered lander has to finish its mission in 14 earth-days.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27…
spj.science.org/doi/10.34133/2…
sciencedirect.com/science/arti…
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Here is a detailed animation of the Chang'e 5 sample return mission to the moon. It shows the various steps and complex choreography of the mission including launch, orbit insertion, landing, sample collection, ascent, transfer of samples, return to earth and landing of sample capsule.

The Chang'e 6 spacecraft hardware and mission procedures are very similar, except for the landing location on the far side of the moon and the use of the Queqiao-2 relay satellite.

youtube.com/watch?v=xMet268iaK…
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How China's Chang'e-5 spacecraft will collect, return moon samples

A #Chang'e-5 spacecraft is headed to the moon to collect lunar samples. The moon-sample mission, the world's first for over 40 years, has been called one of ...

^YouTube

Let's send our best wishes for the success of the ambitious Chang'e 6 sample return mission to the far side of the moon.

Robotic landing on the moon has turned out to be lot harder than we thought, as evident from the poor success rate in such missions over the past few years. See table below.
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The Chang'e 6 mission is expected to return lunar samples to earth 53 days after launch.

The lander is powered by solar cells (not an RTG as used by Chang'e 4 which also landed on the far side of the moon). Hence, it is expected to complete its surface mission during the lunar day. We can expect the landing to occur around May 29, since the Sun will rise at the landing site around then, as shown in the graph below of the elevation of the Sun at the site.

spectrum.ieee.org/china-moon-l…
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Here is the translated press release from the China National Space Administration (CNSA) about the landing of Chang'e 6.

"(the Chang'e-6 lander and ascender combination) landed smoothly in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the back of the moon."

cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n6758838/…
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Here is footage from the onboard camera of the landing sequence of the Chang'e-6 lander + ascender on the far side of the moon.

With some very appropriate music added 🎶

The Chang’e-6 lunar lander landed in the Apollo crater, located in the South Pole-Aitkin impact basin on the far side of the Moon, on 1 June 2024, at 22:23 UTC (2 June, at 06:23 China Standard Time).

youtube.com/watch?v=KRtdMTUTkt…
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Chang’e-6 landing (Onboard Camera View)

The Chang’e-6 lunar lander landed in the Apollo crater, located in the South Pole-Aitkin impact basin on the far side of the Moon, on 1 June 2024, at 22:23 U...

^YouTube

Apparently, Chang'e 6 drilling and soil collection operations have already begun on the lunar surface.

Here is a video that shows its drilling, collection and packaging apparatus in action. The video was probably made during lab testing of the Chang'e 6 lander and its soil gathering equipment.

youtube.com/watch?v=-xEnyHAlvY…
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Demo of Chang’e 6 collecting and packaging lunar soils from the far side of the moon

Collecting and packaging samples of surface simulation and demonstration for the table and drill sampling.Source: https://m.weibo.cn/status/Oh7Le8IwJ

^YouTube

Chang'e 6 landing site coordinates - 41.64 S, 153.99 W

Here are some images of the site at different zoom levels taken by lunar orbiters.

quickmap.lroc.asu.edu/?camera=…
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The Chang'e 6 ascender has lifted off the lunar surface with its cache of rock and soil samples.

It fired it's 3000N engine at 23:38 UTC June 3. 6 minutes later, it entered a 15 x 180 km x 43 deg lunar orbit. With 4 more orbital maneuvers, it will climb to a 210 km lunar orbit to rendezvous with and transfer the samples to the returner. Sample return to earth is scheduled for June 25.

Here are some clips of its short stay on the far side of the moon.

youtube.com/watch?v=8dug2_hYDw…
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CNSA/CASC releases footage of Chang’e-6 sampling on far side of the moon

Look, look, look more, next time our country's moon sampling, should be when astronauts are digging lunar soil on the moon (sampling) during manned lunar lan...

^YouTube

The Chang'e-6 ascender module successfully docked with the probe's orbiter-returner at 08:48 UTC on Thursday.

The container with lunar soil samples was transferred from the ascender to the returner by 09:24 UTC.

Sample return to earth is scheduled for June 25.

Here is a video of the rendezvous taken by a camera on the orbiter.

youtube.com/watch?v=QuPIJFeKxS…
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Chang'e 6 Ascender and Orbit Return Rendezvous and Sample Transfer Video

From the lunar orbit hardcore blockbuster! Chang'e VI ascender and orbit return combination rendezvous docking and sample transfer video! China Aerospace's W...

^YouTube

Chang'e-6's return capsule, containing lunar rock and soil samples, is expected to land in less than 24 hours between 05:41 and 06:11 June 25 UTC (13:41 - 14:11 June 25 Beijing time). The landing area is located in the grasslands of Dorbod Banner (aka Siziwang Banner) in Inner Mongolia.

The capsule will skip off the atmosphere to reduce speed before final entry. The Chang'e-6 returner module will continue on an undisclosed extended mission.

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Here is a recent video by CGTN tracing the history of lunar missions - starting with the early Soviet and American missions followed by the Chang'e missions from 2007 to 2024.
Next up -
2026 - Chang'e 7 - Lunar orbiter, lander, rover, and flying probe; in-depth exploration of the lunar south pole to look for resources
2028 - Chang'e 8 - In situ resource utilization (ISRU) + 3D-printing of structures.
2029-30 - Human landing.

youtube.com/watch?v=okdQv1DuCa…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_…
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Chinese lunar space program

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