NASA discovered the Chinese Chang’e-6 probe on the far side of the Moon

NASA released the image A sample of the Chang’e-6 spacecraft being returned China on the far side of the Moon, photographed by LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) June 7.

The Chang’e 6 probe landed on June 1, and when the LRO probe flew over the landing site nearly a week later, it captured an image showing the probe in the edge of an eroded crater with a diameter of about 50 meters.

The LRO probe operator team calculated the coordinates of the landing site: about 42 degrees south latitude, 206 degrees east longitude, at an altitude of about minus 5256 meters, NASA reports.

He pier The Chang’e 6 probe is located at the southern edge of the Apollo Basin (about 492 km in diameter, centered at 36.1 degrees south latitude and 208.3 degrees east longitude).

A few years ago 3.1 billion yearsJust south of Chaffee S Crater, basaltic lava erupted and flowed west downslope until it encountered a local topographic high point, likely associated with a fault. Several wrinkled ridges in this region have deformed and raised the surface of the sea or lunar plain.

The landing site is located approximately halfway between two of these prominent ridges. This basalt flow It also overlaps a slightly older flow (about 3.3 billion years old) visible further to the west, but the later flow has higher iron oxide and titanium dioxide content.

The mission of the Chang’e-6 probe is to collect and deliver samples from the far side of the Moon to Earth for the first time in history.