China’s Chang’e-6 lunar module successfully landed on the far side of the Moon in the early hours of Sunday (2), in a significant step towards the ambitious mission that could advance the country’s aspirations of putting astronauts on the Moon.
The Chang’e-6 probe has landed in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, where it will begin collecting samples from the lunar surface, the China National Space Administration announced.
China’s most complex robotic lunar effort to date, the unmanned mission aims to return samples from the far side of the Moon to Earth for the first time.
The landing marks the second time a mission has successfully reached the far side of the moon. China completed this historic feat for the first time in 2019 with its Chang’e-4 probe.
If all goes as planned, the mission – which began on May 3 and is expected to last 53 days – could be a key milestone in China’s effort to become a dominant space power.
The country’s plans include landing astronauts on the Moon by 2030 and building a research base at the South Pole – a region believed to contain ice water.
Sunday’s landing comes as a growing number of countries, including the United States, look to the strategic and scientific benefits of expanded lunar exploration in an increasingly competitive field.
Samples collected by the Chang’e-6 probe could provide important clues about the origin and evolution of the Moon, Earth and the solar system, experts say – while the mission itself provides important data and technical practices to advance China’s lunar ambitions .
Chang’e-6 touched down in an impact crater known as the Apollo Basin, located in the South Pole’s sprawling Aitken Basin, about 2,500 kilometers in diameter, according to Chinese state media Xinhua.
It orbited the Moon for about 20 days as part of a larger probe made up of four parts: an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a reentry module.
It is now expected to use a drill and a mechanical arm to collect up to 2 kilograms of lunar dust and rocks from the basin, a crater formed about 4 billion years ago.
The probe will spend two days on the far side of the Moon and 14 hours to collect lunar soil samples, Xinhua reported.
To complete its mission, the lander will need to robotically store these samples in an ascent vehicle that landed with it.
The ascent vehicle will then return to lunar orbit, where it will dock and transfer samples to a reentry capsule, according to mission information provided by the China National Space Administration.
The reentry capsule and orbiter will then travel back to Earth’s orbit and separate, allowing the reentry capsule to make its expected return later this month to the Siziwang Banner landing site in rural Inner Mongolia, China. .
The technically complex mission is made more challenging by the location where it is being conducted. The far side of the Moon is beyond the reach of normal communications, which means Chang’e-6 must also rely on a satellite that was launched into lunar orbit in March, Queqiao-2.
China plans to launch two more Chang-e series missions as it approaches its 2030 goal of sending astronauts to the Moon.
Multiple nations are expanding their lunar programs, with an increasing focus on securing access to resources and further exploration of deep space.
Last year, India landed a spacecraft on the Moon for the first time, while Russia’s first lunar landing mission in decades ended in failure when its Luna 25 probe crashed into the lunar surface.
In January, Japan became the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the Moon, although its Moon Sniper lander faced power problems due to an incorrect landing angle.
The following month, IM-1, a NASA-funded mission designed by Texas-based private company Intuitive Machines, touched down near the South Pole.
This landing — the first by a U.S.-made spacecraft in more than five decades — is among several planned commercial missions aimed at exploring the lunar surface before NASA attempts to return U.S. astronauts there as early as 2026 and build their camp. scientific basis.
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