Published: Tuesday, June 4, 2024
The image shows the Chang’e 6 Lander on the surface of the Moon.
(Image credit: CNSA)
The China National Space Administration has also released stunning footage showing the samples collected by the lander on the far side of the moon over the last two days. The samples were sent into orbit at 7:38 am Beijing Time, Tuesday, June 4, (7:38 pm EDT, June 3).
Chang’e 6, located on the other side of the Moon, landed on Sunday morning, June 2 Beijing Time in the Apollo Basin crater.
New images and videos show how this historic mission is moving at a rapid pace. This marks only the second soft-landing on the hemisphere that faces perpetually away from Earth.
Image of the lunar surface captured by China’s Chang’e 6 space probe. CNSA image credit. “China’s Chang’e 6 ascender detached from the lander on the Moon at 7:38 am Beijing Time on Friday, June 4, and lifted off the South Pole-Aitken Basin,” CNSA stated in a press release. It is carrying samples of the moon that were collected over the last two days. It entered orbit after about six minutes and will perform several orbital maneuvers as the next step.
The Chang’e 6 orbiter will grab the samples from orbit. It remained in orbit around the moon, after the ascender rocket left it to land the Chang’e 6 lunar lander. If all goes well, the canister of samples will be parachuted to Earth on 25 June if everything goes to plan.
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It will be an historic event, as this will be the very first time samples from the far side have been brought back to Earth for analysis.
Image of the lunar surface captured by China’s Chang’e 6 space probe. CNSA Watcher shared footage of the Apollo basin and the first samples being taken from the surface. (Image credit: CLEP)
CNSA Watcher shared the Chang’e 6 lunar images via China Aerospace’s Weibo.
“Save! #Chang E Liu Hao # [Chang’e 6] Zoom in on the image to see details of the surface of the moon. This is the high-definition picture of the landing site captured by the lander’s panoramic camera,” wrote the CNSA on Weibo.
The Chang’e 6 Lander’s panoramic cameras capture high-definition photos of the landing site. These images reveal detailed lunar surfaces. Source:https://t.co/lCulGS43mp pic.twitter.com/4AH0RXG3WiJune 4, 2024
The CNSA also shared images taken by Chang’e 6 lander camera, including a shot of the lander leg firmly planted onto the lunar surface.
A view of the Chinese flag and the lunar surface in the background celebrates this incredible achievement for China.
Chang’e 6 is the second mission that has soft-landed on the far side. Last mission to soft land on the far side of the moon was Chang’e 4 in January 2019.
China is currently the only country to have successfully landed in the hemisphere that faces away.
The next two Chang’e missions, following the CNSA’s successful landing of spacecraft in this difficult region of the Moon, will target the lunar South pole. The future exploration of Earth’s moon companion will be focused on this polar region.
Chang’e 7 will arrive at the south pole of the moon in 2026 to hunt for water ice. Chang’e 8 is scheduled to launch in 2028. It will investigate in situ uses of the resources that Chang’e 7 has discovered, including water ice.
The CNSA plans to send humans to the Moon by 2030.
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Robert Lea, a U.K. science journalist, has published articles in Newsweek, ZME Science, Newsweek, Astronomy, Newsweek, and Physics World. Robert Lea also writes for Elsevier, the European Journal of Physics and Newsweek about science communication. Rob has a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Astronomy from the Open University, U.K. Follow him on twitter @sciencef1rst.