China begins returning world's 1st samples from moon's far side

China started bringing back the world's first lunar samples from the far side of the moon on Tuesday as part of the Chang'e-6 mission, according to the China National Space Administration.  

Intelligent sampling is one of the key stages of the Chang'e-6 mission. During the sampling and encapsulation process, researchers at the ground laboratory used data sent back by the Queqiao-2 relay satellite to simulate the geographic model of the sampling area and process, providing important support for sampling decisions.