China Prepares to Bring Rocks From Moon’s Far Side to Earth

On Tuesday, a capsule carrying soil from the far side of the moon will parachute into the desert in China’s Inner Mongolia region.

The sample, retrieved by the Chinese National Space Administration’s Chang’e-6 lander, is expected to be the latest accomplishment in a series of near-flawless executions of Chinese lunar exploration missions since 2007.

Here’s what you need to know about the Chang’e-6 mission’s return to Earth.

China’s space agency has yet to confirm when the mission will conclude.

But according to NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the Chang’e-6 sample return capsule is expected to land at 1:41 a.m. Eastern time, which is 1:41 p.m. local time in the Siziwang Banner area of Inner Mongolia, a region in northern China.

The Times will share an embedded live video stream if the Chinese space agency provides one closer to the expected landing time.

Don’t call it the dark side of the moon, for starters — it gets plenty of sunlight.

But when you look up at the sky from Earth, you only ever see one side of the moon, the near side. Its face is blotched with wide, dark plains where ancient lava once flowed.