Posted: Mon, Jun 3 11:53 AM ET (1553 GMT)
China's Chang'e-6 spacecraft successfully landed on the far side of the moon Saturday to collect samples to return to Earth. The Chang’e-6 lander made a soft landing at 6:23 pm EDT (2223 GMT) Saturday, according to the China National Space Administration, touching down within Apollo Crater, located in the South Pole Aitken Basin on the lunar farside. The lander is designed to collect up to two kilograms of samples and place them in a capsule to be launched back into lunar orbit, where the Chang'e-6 orbiter will capture it to return to Earth later this month. The mission is China’s fourth successful lunar landing in four attempts, and the second on the far side of the moon. It is also the third spacecraft to land on the moon this year after Japan's SLIM and Intuitive Machines' IM-1 missions.

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Posted: Mon, Jun 3 11:51 AM ET (1551 GMT)
A problem with a ground computer scrubbed a Starliner launch attempt Saturday. The computer glitch halted the countdown less than four minutes before the scheduled 12:25 pm EDT (1625 GMT) launch of a crewed test flight of the spacecraft, calling off the launch for the day. United Launch Alliance later said that a power supply unit in part of one computer rack in a ground system, part of a set of three redundant computers, had malfunctioned and has since been replaced. The launch is now scheduled for Wednesday at 10:52 am EDT (1452 GMT), with another launch opportunity on Thursday morning. The Starliner spacecraft itself was in good condition, and a helium leak studied after a previous launch attempt had diminished.

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