1. China’s Chang’e-6 mission aims to collect rock and soil samples from the Moon’s far side.
2. Launched from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on May 3, 2024, it’s part of China’s lunar exploration program.
3. The mission could provide valuable insights into the Moon’s composition and early history.
Beijing, May 03: China has initiated its Chang’e-6 mission, marking a historic endeavor to become the first nation to gather rock and soil samples from the far side of the Moon.
Launched atop a Long March 5 rocket from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on May 3, 2024, Chang’e-6 is a pivotal component of China’s ambitious lunar exploration program.
The mission is set to target a landing within the southern region of the Apollo crater, situated within the vast South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin on the lunar far side. This crater, shaped by ancient impacts, holds significant scientific importance, offering potential insights into the Moon’s composition and early geological processes.
Weighing approximately 3,200kg, the spacecraft is equipped with scientific instruments from France, Italy, Sweden, and Pakistan. Its primary objective is to collect around 2 kg of material from a depth of 2 m beneath the lunar surface and transport it back to Earth for detailed analysis.
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Ge Ping, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center under the China National Space Administration, emphasized that Chang’e-6 aims to push the boundaries of technology, particularly in the areas of orbit design, intelligent sampling, take-off and ascent mechanisms, and autonomous sample retrieval.
This mission follows the groundbreaking success of China’s Chang’e-4 lander and rover, which achieved the historic feat of landing on the lunar far side in 2019. Chang’e-4’s ground-penetrating radar revealed intriguing insights into the Moon’s subsurface, unveiling previously unseen structures within the top layers of the lunar crust.
If Chang’e-6 accomplishes its objectives, the collected samples could offer invaluable clues about the composition of the Moon’s mantle, a critical aspect that remains poorly understood.
Furthermore, these samples might help elucidate the disparities in composition between the near and far sides of the Moon, shedding light on the Moon’s geological evolution.
China’s lunar exploration program is part of its broader vision to establish a sustainable presence on the Moon, with aspirations for a permanent lunar base in collaboration with the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) program by the 2030s.
The Chang’e-6 mission represents a significant stride towards realizing this vision, underscoring China’s burgeoning capabilities in deep space exploration.
