Xi hails success of lunar mission

President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message on Tuesday on the success of the Chang'e 6 mission, which for the first time brought scientifically precious samples from the moon's far side back to Earth.

On behalf of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, the State Council and the Central Military Commission, Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the CMC, extended warm congratulations and sincere greetings to the Chang'e 6 mission headquarters and all those who participated in the historic mission.

In his message, the president noted that the Chang'e 6 probe realized the world's first sample-return endeavor from the lunar far side, marking a new milestone in China's effort to become a global power in the space industry as well as in science and technology.

"Over the past 20 years, all comrades taking part in lunar exploration programs have been upholding the spirit of the cause, continuing to climb the peak of science and technology. You have made world-class achievements and established a high-quality, efficient path for exploring the moon," Xi said. "Your extraordinary feats will be enshrined in the memory of our motherland and the people."

The president expressed the hope that those who participated in the mission will make full use of the new samples in scientific studies and keep working on deep-space explorations and other major space projects.

" (You shall) march toward building the country into a major power in space, achieving new feats in exploring the universe and benefiting humanity, and making new contributions to Chinese modernization and national rejuvenation," Xi said, also encouraging the mission's participants to continue strengthening international cooperation.

Carrying the unique lunar samples, the reentry capsule of the Chang'e 6 robotic probe touched down at 2:07 pm on Tuesday on its preset landing site in Siziwang Banner in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, successfully completing a 53-day voyage that involved a host of complex and challenging maneuvers.

The reentry and landing processes started at around 1:20 pm after the mission controllers at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center uploaded high-accuracy navigation data to the orbiter-reentry capsule combination.