China’s groundbreaking Chang’e-6 lunar probe achieved a successful touchdown on the dark side of the moon on Sunday. The innovative mission is focused on gathering soil and rock samples from a never-before-explored location on the moon and returning them to Earth, marking a historic first for humanity.
China’s Chang’e-6 touched down on the far side of the moon on Sunday morning, and will collect samples from this rarely explored terrain for the first time in human history, the China National Space Administration announced https://t.co/IW97e51yM1 #XinhuaHeadlines pic.twitter.com/MDjew0mlBq
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) June 2, 2024
As per the China National Space Administration (CNSA), the spacecraft successfully touched down at the specified location in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin on Sunday morning.
The CNSA also mentioned that the “mix then floated approximately 100 meters above the designated landing spot and utilized a laser 3D scanner to identify any obstructions on the moon’s surface in order to choose the last landing location prior to a gradual vertical descent”.
The Chang’e-6 mission, starting on May 3, includes an orbiter, a returner, a lander, and an ascender. If everything goes according to plan, this mission will give China a detailed record of the moon’s 4.5 billion-year history and provide new understanding of how our solar system was formed.
The mission will also examine the mysterious, unexplored part of the moon in comparison to the more well-known side facing Earth, aiming to uncover hidden information about lunar geology and evolution.
One of the largest impact craters in the solar system is located at the moon’s South Pole–Aitken basin. The main difficulty lies in the fact that the backside of the moon always faces away from Earth, causing communication obstacles and complicating robotic landing missions.
Sample retrieval later this month
China will transfer samples collected from the far side of the moon to a rocket booster on top of the lander. The booster will launch into space, link up with another spacecraft in lunar orbit, and return to Earth, with an expected landing in China’s Inner Mongolia region around June 25.
China’s official Xinhua news agency announced that a simulation lab will be used for the Chang’e-6 probe to test sampling strategies and equipment control procedures. A full-scale replica of the sampling area will be utilized, taking into account the exploration findings related to the environment, rock distribution, and lunar soil conditions near the landing site.
The Chinese space agency stated on its website that the Chang’e-6 mission includes numerous engineering innovations, high risks, and great difficulty.
The payloads on the Chang’e-6 lander will function as intended and conduct scientific exploration tasks.
Giant leap in space race with US
China’s successful landing on the moon’s far side has advanced its position in the global competition for space power. Multiple nations, such as the United States and Japan, aim to utilize lunar resources for the purpose of supporting extensive astronaut missions and establishing moon colonies in the coming decade.
China has previously announced its intention to construct a lunar base by utilizing Moon soil. It has additionally stated intentions to utilize 3D printing technology in order to build structures using moon soil on the surface of the moon.
China’s lunar plan is set to have its initial astronaut landing on the moon by 2030, with Russia being involved as a partner. In 2020, China performed its initial lunar sample return mission using Chang’e-5, bringing back samples from the moon’s near side.
In the near future, the US Artemis program plans to achieve a manned moon landing by late 2026 or beyond. NASA has collaborated with space agencies from Canada, Europe, and Japan, whose astronauts will participate in an Artemis mission alongside US crews.
Artemis places a strong emphasis on private companies, such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX, whose Starship rocket plans to make the first astronaut landing this decade, following NASA’s last Apollo mission in 1972.
The third lunar landing of the year is Chang’e-6, with Japan’s SLIM lander landing in January and a lander from US startup Intuitive Machines in the following month.
