China's Chang'e-6 spacecraft makes historic landing on far side of moon
June 7, 2024, 9:52 am
On June 5, 2024, China's Chang'e-6 spacecraft achieved a historic milestone by successfully landing on the far side of the moon. This marks the first time in history that a spacecraft has collected samples of lunar soil from the far side of Earth's satellite. The capsule containing the lunar soil samples is scheduled to land in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia on June 25.
The spacecraft, equipped with a 3.7-meter robotic arm for collecting soil samples, took off from the far side of the moon on June 4 at 7:38 UTC. After a six-minute engine burn, the spacecraft was successfully placed into the desired orbit around the moon.
Chang'e-6's landing module, supported by the relay satellite Queqiao-2, touched down in the Aitken basin at the moon's south pole. The mission's payload includes instruments from the international scientific community, such as a negative ion analyzer from the European Space Agency, a French radon detector, and an Italian laser corner reflector.
Within 48 hours of landing on the moon's surface, Chang'e-6 will use its robotic arm to collect rocks and soil samples, as well as drill into the lunar surface. These samples, estimated to be around 4 billion years old, will be brought back to Earth. The spacecraft is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere after five days of flight and land in the Siziwang Banner region of Inner Mongolia in northern China. The entire mission is set to last 53 days.
Chang'e-6 was launched aboard the Long March 5 rocket on May 3 and reached lunar orbit six days later. This mission adds to China's successful lunar missions, including Chang'e 3, Chang'e 4, and Chang'e 5, which have all contributed to our understanding of the moon's geology and history.
The spacecraft, equipped with a 3.7-meter robotic arm for collecting soil samples, took off from the far side of the moon on June 4 at 7:38 UTC. After a six-minute engine burn, the spacecraft was successfully placed into the desired orbit around the moon.
Chang'e-6's landing module, supported by the relay satellite Queqiao-2, touched down in the Aitken basin at the moon's south pole. The mission's payload includes instruments from the international scientific community, such as a negative ion analyzer from the European Space Agency, a French radon detector, and an Italian laser corner reflector.
Within 48 hours of landing on the moon's surface, Chang'e-6 will use its robotic arm to collect rocks and soil samples, as well as drill into the lunar surface. These samples, estimated to be around 4 billion years old, will be brought back to Earth. The spacecraft is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere after five days of flight and land in the Siziwang Banner region of Inner Mongolia in northern China. The entire mission is set to last 53 days.
Chang'e-6 was launched aboard the Long March 5 rocket on May 3 and reached lunar orbit six days later. This mission adds to China's successful lunar missions, including Chang'e 3, Chang'e 4, and Chang'e 5, which have all contributed to our understanding of the moon's geology and history.