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China has launched one of its most anticipated missions to bring lunar rock and soil from the far side of the moon. The Long March-5, China’s largest rocket, blasted off to space carrying the Chang’e-6 lunar probe. The 53-day mission is a world-first attempt to retrieve rocks and soil from the moon’s side that never faces Earth.
“Collecting and returning samples from the far side of the moon is an unprecedented feat,” Wu Weiren, chief designer of the country’s lunar exploration programme, told Xinhua. “We know very little about the moon’s far side. If the Chang’e-6 mission can achieve its goal, it will provide scientists with the first direct evidence to understand the environment and material composition of the far side of the moon, which is of great significance.”
The Chang’e-6 is set to land on the South Pole–Aitken Basin, which is on the lunar far side and is one of the largest and oldest impact features in the solar system.
The spacecraft is expected to reach the moon’s orbit in four to five days after the probe separates from the rocket. Chinese scientists expect it to land on lunar soil in early June.
As it lands, the Chang’e-6 is likely to spend two days on lunar soil to dig up around 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of samples, which will be sealed in a container. Chang’e-6 will land in north China’s Inner Mongolia .
Samples’ geological age
Chinese scientists have claimed that the samples collected by Chang’e-6 will have a geological age of approximately four billion years.
After the spacecraft arrives at the moon, it will separate into two parts. The lander and ascender will head for the lunar surface, while the orbiter and the re-entry module remain in orbit, according to South China Morning Post.
Built as a backup for China’s Chang’e-5 mission, Chang’e-6 consists of four components: an orbiter, lander, ascender, and re-entry module.
Chang’e-5 brought 3.81 pounds (1.73 kilograms) of samples from the near side of the moon in 2020. It was also the first time humans retrieved lunar samples in 44 years following the US Apollo and Soviet Luna missions.
China to become first country to retrieve samples from the moon’s “hidden” side
“Chang’e-6 is basically a repeat of Chang’e-5. The only added difficulty is the communications link to the far side,” said Jonathan McDowell, a Harvard astronomer who tracks rocket launches and space activities. “And that appears to be well in hand with the Queqiao-2 relay satellite in place,” McDowell said, according to SCMP.
If Chang’e-6 succeds in its mission, China will become the first country to retrieve samples from the moon’s “hidden” side. China is also planning to send three lunar probe missions over the next four years and it aims to send astronauts on the moon by 2030.
