An uncrewed Chinese spacecraft successfully landed on the moon's far side on Sunday, according to China's space agency, marking the country's second landing in a region untouched by other nations amidst intensifying global space exploration competition. This mission, if successful, will be the first in history to return samples from the moon's far side.

The China National Space Administration dispatched the Chang'e 6 lunar probe to gather rocks and other materials from the vicinity of an impact crater known as the Apollo basin, which lies within the larger South Pole-Aitken basin on the moon, as reported by Xinhua News Agency.
Chang'e 6 touched down at 6:23 a.m. local time following its May 3 launch from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on Hainan Island. Chang'e, in Chinese mythology, is the goddess of the moon.

Nations such as China, the United States, Japan, India, and Russia have significantly increased their investments in space exploration recently, adding to a domain historically seen as a measure of national prowess and advancement.

The space race, particularly between China and the United States, is heating up over scientific achievements in space. The United States aims to return humans to the moon by 2026, while China is targeting its first manned lunar mission by 2030.

The far side of the moon, often referred to as the dark side, is the hemisphere that perpetually faces away from Earth. The term "dark" signifies the lack of knowledge about this hemisphere rather than the absence of light.

The Apollo 8 astronauts were the first to witness the dark side in 1968, and Chang'e 4 achieved the inaugural landing there in January 2019. Communication on the far side presents more challenges due to its orientation away from Earth.