https://sputnikglobe.com/20240605/chinas-change-6-set-to-return-to-earth-with-moons-far-side-samples--1118770418.html
China's Chang'e-6 Set to Return to Earth With Moon's Far Side Samples
China's Chang'e-6 Set to Return to Earth With Moon's Far Side Samples
Sputnik International
The probe completed its sample collection from June 2-3, possibly making China the first country to return samples from the far side of the moon.
2024-06-05T05:29+0000
2024-06-05T05:29+0000
2024-06-05T05:29+0000
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China’s Chang’e-6 probe is officially making its return journey back to Earth after leaving the far side of the moon, China’s national space agency announced on Tuesday. State media says the probe of the Chang’e-6 craft lifted off at about 7:38 on Tuesday (23:38 GMT Monday) and started its journey back.The probe completed its sample collection from June 2-3, possibly making China the first country to return samples from the far side of the moon. The probe landed on the moon on Sunday in one of the oldest craters on the moon - the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) - and then spent two days gathering rock and soil samples using its drill and robotic arm.When the probe successfully completed its mission, a “Chinese national flag carried by the lander was unfurled for the first time on the far side of the moon”, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said. However, the container carrying the samples still needs to be transferred to a re-entry capsule that will then land in the deserts of China’s Inner Mongolia region later this month.The far side of the moon or the “dark” side is the section which faces away from Earth. The moon’s far side and near side were once thought to be relatively similar, but scientific missions by robotic observers and Apollo astronauts in the last six decades have found the two sides’ features are actually very different. The moon’s far side has less craters caused by volcanic activity on the moon, for instance.The far side is challenging to study due to its distance and difficult terrain. Experts believe the probe’s samples could provide unprecedented insights into the moon’s far side as well as the formation and evolution of the moon and solar system and maybe even provide clues as to how Earth came to sustain life.
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China's Chang'e-6 Set to Return to Earth With Moon's Far Side Samples
Chang’e is named after the moon goddess in Chinese mythology - this is China’s sixth mission to the moon.
China’s Chang’e-6 probe is officially making its return journey back to Earth after leaving the far side of the moon, China’s national space agency announced on Tuesday. State media says the probe of the Chang’e-6 craft lifted off at about 7:38 on
Tuesday (23:38 GMT Monday) and started its journey back.
The probe completed its sample collection from June 2-3, possibly making China the first country to return samples from the far side of the moon. The probe landed on the moon on Sunday in one of the oldest craters on the moon - the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) - and then spent two days gathering rock and soil samples using its drill and robotic arm.
When the probe successfully completed its mission, a “Chinese national flag carried by the lander was unfurled for the first time on the far side of the moon”, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said. However, the container carrying the samples still needs to be transferred to a re-entry capsule that will then land in the deserts of China’s Inner Mongolia region later this month.
“This is a very important achievement,” said Professor Martin Barstow of the University of Leicester. “Only the US and Russia have recovered samples from the moon, landing and then taking off again. It demonstrates an impressive capability in China’s space programme. It’s a technical feat to take off from the moon at all but even more challenging when carried out on its far side.”
The
far side of the moon or the “dark” side is the section which faces away from Earth. The moon’s far side and near side were once thought to be relatively similar, but scientific missions by robotic observers and Apollo astronauts in the last six decades have found the two sides’ features are actually very different. The moon’s far side has less craters caused by volcanic activity on the moon, for instance.
The far side is challenging to study due to its distance and difficult terrain.
Experts believe the probe’s samples could provide unprecedented insights into the moon’s far side as well as the formation and evolution of the moon and solar system and maybe even provide clues as to how Earth came to sustain life.“I do not know if they have any plans for sharing samples outside China, but I hope they have and that we in the UK would get an opportunity to work on these. This would fit very well with our plans for sample return from Mars,” said Barstow.
