The overall mission lasted about 53 days, ending on 25 June 2024 with the return capsule re-entering the atmosphere with the samples, landing by parachute in Inner Mongolia.

Scientists hope that the samples collected from the landing area may include lunar mantle material ejected by the original impact that created the SPA basin, material which can shed light on the differences that exist between the lunar near-side and far-side, and on the origin of the Moon and the Solar System.

[2] The Chang'e 6 lander landed at 22:23 UTC on 1 June 2024 in the southern mare of Apollo Basin (lunar coordinates: 41°38′19″S 153°59′07″W / 41.6385°S 153.9852°W / -41.6385; -153.9852).

[24] The mission's lander collected 1,935.3 grams (68.27 oz) of lunar far-side material including surface soil and rocks (using a scoop) and subsurface samples (using a drill).

[30][28][31] In October 2018, CNSA announced that it would call for international partners to propose an additional payload up to 10 kg (22 lb) to be included in this mission.

[41] Additionally, Jinchan was tasked to image the Chang'e 6 lander on the lunar surface and was equipped cameras on both sides for redundancy purposes.

Following the sample collection process, "the mini rover autonomously detached from the lander, moved to a suitable position, selected an ideal angle for the photograph and then captured the image.

[46] At 22:06 UTC, on 1 June 2024, the Chang'e 6 lander/ascender, with the support of the Queqiao-2 relay satellite, descended from its 200 kilometer (124 miles) orbit altitude.

[48] At 23:38 UTC on 3 June 2024, the Chang'e 6 ascender (carrying the samples) took off from the far side of the Moon and entered the predetermined circumlunar orbit.

[24] After dropping off the return samples for Earth, the Chang'e 6 (CE-6) orbiter was successfully captured by the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point on 9 September 2024.