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What's New in Lunar & Planetary Science

The CNSA (China) Chang'e 6 return vehicle landed in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on 25 June at 06:07 UT (2:07 a.m. EDT, 2:07 p.m. Beijing time). The capsule holds up to 2 kg of the first samples ever collected from the Moon's far side.

On 29 May, the Japanese Space Agency, JAXA, announced that contact had been lost with the Venus orbiter, Akatsuki. The spacecraft has been operating in orbit around Venus since 2015. Ground controllers are trying to re-establish contact.

This Day in Planetary and Lunar Exploration History

1972: Pioneer 10 enters the asteroid belt on its way to becoming the first spacecraft to pass through the belt.
1975: Launch of an Apollo spacecraft in the U.S. and a Soyuz in the U.S.S.R., to dock two days later.