By Ling Xin
Chinese space engineers made small but deliberate changes to last year鈥檚 historic sample retrieval mission to the far side of the moon to avoid political friction in the South China Sea, according to a new paper.
The Chang鈥檈-6 spacecraft left the Wenchang spaceport on Hainan Island on board a Long March-5 rocket in May 2024, returning to Earth the following month with the world鈥檚 first lunar samples from the moon鈥檚 hidden side.
According to the paper published last month by China鈥檚 Journal of…