China’s lunar probe may return with answers to the origins of the solar system

By Eduardo Baptista

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe appears poised to begin its historic journey back to Earth from the far side of the Moon after collecting samples that scientists hope will help answer key questions about the moon. early evolution of the solar system.

Chang’e-6, named after the mythical Chinese moon goddess, was launched on May 3 from the southern Chinese island province of Hainan.

The fully robotic probe touched down Sunday in a previously unexplored location in a gigantic impact crater called the South Pole Aitken Basin, on the side of the Moon that permanently faces away from Earth.

China’s previous Chang’e mission collected samples from the near side of the Moon in December 2020, restarting global efforts to recover lunar material after a gap of 44 years.

The unmanned Luna 24 mission launched by the former Soviet Union in 1976 collected 170.1 grams (6 ounces) of samples from Mare Crisium, or “Sea of ​​Crises,” on the near side of the moon.

Between 1969 and 1972, six Apollo missions, all manned, collected 2,200 samples weighing a total of 382 kilograms, also from the side of the Moon facing Earth.

James Carpenter, head of the European Space Agency’s lunar science office, said samples collected by Apollo missions from the near side of the Moon suggest that the South Pole’s Aitken Basin on the far side was caused by a time of extremely heavy bombardment of the Moon. solar system. , Earth and moon.

“This is a really central event in the history of the entire solar system, but there is some controversy about whether it happened or not,” he said.

“To understand this, we need to anchor these events, and this will be done with samples from the far side of the Moon, from the Aitken Basin, at the South Pole.”

SMALL WINDOW

After landing, Chang’e-6 had a 14-hour window to drill, excavate and seal 2 kg of material, aiming to be the first probe to bring these samples back to the far side of the moon. This compares to the 21-hour window that Chang’e-5 had in 2020.

“When it gets dark, when the sun sets over the horizon, the mission has to end, so there’s a limited window of time between landing, getting these samples and leaving the surface again, so it’s a pretty exciting mission because it has be done quickly,” Carpenter said.

Although China said it has improved the efficiency of its digging and drilling machines compared to 2020, the mission may still encounter obstacles in the sampling phase.

Chang’e-5 returned 1.73 kg of lunar samples instead of the planned 2 kg, as the drill was only able to create a hole 1 meter (3.28 feet) deep instead of 2 meters , after finding impenetrable layers beneath the surface.

The Chang’e-6 samples will be transferred and sealed in a rocket atop the lander, which will be launched back into space, docked with another spacecraft in lunar orbit and transferred the samples.

A landing in China’s Inner Mongolia is expected around June 25.

Throughout the probe’s journey, payloads from Italian, French and Pakistani research institutes, as well as the European Space Agency, will collect data on issues relating to space and the Moon, highlighting the growing international weight of China’s space program, which is competing with the United States to build a lunar outpost in the next decade.

Carpenter said there was “extremely strong” collaboration between European and Chinese scientists in analyzing the lunar samples returned by Chang’e-5, and he hopes this will be repeated for Chang’e-6.

(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; additional reporting by Ryan Woo. Editing by Gerry Doyle)