The Chang’e 6 robotic mission touched down in the Apollo Crater in the giant South Pole-Aitken Basin at 6:23 a.m. Beijing time on Sunday, June 2, according to Chinese space officials. The time at the time of landing was June 1, 18:23 EDT (22:23 GMT). The Chinese space agency said the probe “successfully landed in a pre-selected area.”

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) now has two landers on the far side – this one and Chang’e 4, which dropped a combined lander and rover on gray soil in January 2019. No other country has ever done this.

If all goes as planned, Chang’e 6 will make Chinese history: The mission aims to collect samples and send them back to Earth, giving researchers the chance to see material from this part of the moon for the first time in history.

“The Chang’e-6 mission is the first human sample collection and return mission from the far side of the Moon,” CNSA officials said in a translated statement. said. (To be clear: Chang’e 6 is a robotic mission, not a crewed mission.) “It involves a lot of engineering innovation, high risk, and big challenges.”