China launches Chang’e-6 probe to collect samples from the far side of the Moon

(Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

WENCHANG, Hainan, May 3 (Xinhua) — China on Friday launched the Chang’e-6 probe to collect and return samples from the mysterious far side of the Moon, marking the first such attempt in the history of human exploration of the Earth. satellite.

The Long March 5 rocket carrying the Chang’e 6 probe took off at 5:27 p.m. Beijing time from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on the coast of China’s southern Hainan province. .

About 37 minutes after liftoff, the Chang’e 6 spacecraft separated from the rocket and entered a planned Earth-Moon transfer orbit with a perigee altitude of 200 kilometers and an apogee altitude of about 380,000 kilometers, according to China’s National Space Administration. (CNSA).

The launch of the Chang’e-6 spacecraft was successful, CNSA said.

“Collecting and delivering samples from the far side of the Moon is an unprecedented feat. Currently, we know very little about the far side of the Moon. If Chang’e 6 reaches 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,” said Wu Weiren, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chief designer of the lunar exploration program. countries.

The Chang’e-6 probe, like its predecessor Chang’e-5, consists of an orbiter, a lander, an ascent module and a return module.

Having reached the Moon, it will make a soft landing on the far side of the satellite. Within 48 hours of landing, a robotic arm will extend out to pick up rocks and soil from the lunar surface, and a drill will drill into the ground. At the same time, scientific research work will be carried out.

Once the samples are sealed in the container, the elevator will take off from the Moon and dock with the orbiter. The return module will then carry the samples back to Earth and land in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in northern China. According to CNSA, the flight will last about 53 days.

Since the Moon’s orbital cycle is the same as its rotational cycle, the same side always faces the Earth. The other side, most of which cannot be seen from Earth, is called the far or “dark side” of the Moon. The term does not refer to the visible darkness, but rather to the mystery surrounding this little-explored region of the Earth’s moon.

Remote sensing images show that the two sides of the Moon are very different. The near side is relatively flat, while the far side is densely dotted with impact craters of varying sizes and has far fewer lunar maria than the near side. Scientists have concluded that the lunar crust on the far side is much thicker than on the near side. But the reason for this remains a mystery.

According to Wang Qiong, deputy chief designer of the Chang’e-6 mission, the impact crater known as the Apollo Basin, located in the Aitken Basin at the South Pole of the Moon, on its far side, was chosen as the main one. target for lunar landing and sampling.

The colossal Aitken Basin at the Moon’s South Pole was formed by a celestial collision more than 4 billion years ago and has a diameter of 2,500 kilometers, equivalent to the distance between Beijing and Hainan, and a depth of about 13 kilometers, according to scientists.

It is the oldest and largest impact crater on the Moon and one of the largest in the Solar System, so it may provide the earliest information about the Moon.

“Direct samples of the far side of the Moon are needed to give us a deeper understanding of the characteristics and differences between the two sides of the Moon, and to unlock its secrets,” said Zeng Xingguo, a scientist at the observatories. National Astronomical Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“The entire mission is filled with numerous challenges, each step of which is interconnected and nerve-wracking,” Wang said.

To achieve communication between the Earth and the probe on the far side of the Moon, China sent the Queqiao-2 relay satellite, whose name translates as “Magpie Bridge-2,” into a highly elliptical orbit and recorded it earlier. year.

While the Chang’e 4 mission achieved the world’s first soft landing on the far side of the Moon in 2019, Chang’e 6 still faces significant risks as the site’s rugged terrain poses significant challenges for landing on the Moon, according to space data. experts.

The Chang’e 6 mission will introduce new technological advances in areas such as retrograde lunar orbit design and control, fast and intelligent sampling, and takeoff from the far side of the moon, Wang said.

“The number of samples Chang’e 6 will be able to collect is unknown and cannot be accurately estimated at this time. Our goal is to collect two kilograms,” added Deng Xiangjin, an expert at the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

The Chang’e 6 mission carries four payloads developed through international cooperation. The Chang’e 6 lunar lander carries scientific instruments from France, Italy and the European Space Agency/Sweden, while the orbiter carries a small satellite from Pakistan.