--- title: "Chinese Moon Lander Appears to Be Carrying Secret Lunar Rover" description: "Images show what appear to be a small rover attached to China's Chang'e-6 sample return mission on the far side of the Moon." date: "2024-05-08" modified: "2024-05-08" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/chinese-moon-lander-appears-to-be-carrying-secret-lunar-rover" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Moon" - "Space" tags: - "chang'e 5" - "china" - "far side of the moon" - "moon" - "the digest" --- # Chinese Moon Lander Appears to Be Carrying Secret Lunar Rover ![Images show what appear to be a small rover attached to China's Chang'e-6 sample return mission on the far side of the Moon.]() *\Image: CAST\* ## Mini Surprise China is set to become the first country to ever return samples from the far side of the Moon. Apart from collecting rocks and dust, the mission — [dubbed Chang'e-6]() — is carrying an even more interesting piece of equipment: a previously undisclosed lunar rover, [*SpaceNews* reports](). Eagle-eyed space reporter Andrew Jones [spotted]() what appears to be a "mini rover" attached to the side of the lander in images shared by the China Academy of Space Technology. There's a lot we still don't know about what China intends to do with the four-wheeled contraption or how the lander will lower it down to the Moon's surface. But given it's unlikely to survive a lunar night, its lifespan will likely be quite short. It's nonetheless an intriguing new development given the wealth of knowledge there still is to glean from the Moon's much less-studied and far more rugged side. https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1786353438806217036 ## Pizza Pie The news comes amid several other countries softly landing on the Moon over the last year alone, [including Japan]() and [India](). Sticking the landing, however, has proven extremely difficult, with Japan's lander [faceplanting](). China, however, has successfully delivered three robotic landers to the lunar surface in just over a decade. In early 2019, the country's Chang'e-4 lunar probe [became the first human-made spacecraft]() to touch down on the far side of the Moon. Its upcoming Chang'e-6 mission, which follows up a 2020 [nearside sample return mission](), will explore the southern edge of the Apollo Basin, an enormous impact crater on the far side of the Moon, in the upcoming months. The mission is already well underway, with the spacecraft [entering lunar orbit]() early Wednesday morning. The plan is to bring back over four pounds of samples, potentially allowing scientists to get an unprecedented look at our closest neighbor's far side. A small rover could take the mission even further, potentially laying the groundwork for future missions still to come. **More on China's Moon mission:** *[China Launches Spacecraft to Collect First-Ever Samples From Moon's Far Side]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()