China is the only country to successfully land on the hemisphere of the moon that faces away from Earth. * The container containing the samples collected by Changa 6 is expected to land on Earth on June 25
China's mission to the moon is progressing at a high pace as the collected samples begin their historic journey back to Earth.
China's Chang'e 6 probe has already sent back spectacular images of the surface on the far, mysterious side of the moon.
In addition, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) released spectacular videos showing the samples from the far side of the moon that the probe collected over the past two days. The samples were launched into lunar orbit at 7:38 a.m. Beijing time on Tuesday, June 4 (01:38 a.m. Israel time).
Chang'e 6 landed in the unexplored Apollo Crater Basin, located within the Great South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA), on the far side of the moon on the morning of Sunday, June 2, Beijing time.
The new photos and videos indicate that this historic mission, marking only the second soft landing on the moon's ever-facing hemisphere, is progressing at an impressive pace.
The CNSA director said in a statement, "The Chang'e 6 launcher separated from the lander and launched from the Aitken Polar Basin on the Moon at 7:38 a.m. Beijing time on June 4. It is carrying lunar samples collected over the past two days. After about five minutes, it enters the target orbit and will begin several orbital maneuvers in the next phase of the process."
This is a historic event, as it will be the first time that samples have been collected from the far side of the Moon and brought to Earth for research.
It should be noted that before the samples were launched from the surface of the moon, the CNSA published spectacular videos on YouTube that showed the collection of the first samples from the Apollo basin.
Photos of the lunar surface taken by Chang'e 6 were posted on the China Aerospace Corporation's Weibo account, and then reposted on CNSA Watcher's X account.
"Change 6 has landed!" wrote on Weibo along with the high-resolution landing image taken by the lander.
Additional CNSA images taken by the Chang'e 6 lander camera included a view of the lander's leg firmly planted on the lunar surface.
Another image received from Chang'e 6 reveals the Chinese flag with the surface of the moon in the background.
Changya 6, named after the Chinese moon goddess, is the second mission to make a soft landing on the far side of the moon. The previous mission was Change 4 January 2019.
This means that now, China is the only country that has managed to successfully land on the hemisphere of the moon that faces away from the Earth.
Following CNSA's success in landing in the challenging regions of the Moon, the next Changa missions are planned to focus on the South Pole of the Moon. This area is expected to be a focus for human research in the future.
Change 7 is expected to reach the south pole of the moon in 2026, where it will search for water ice reserves. The Change 8 mission, planned for launch in 2028, will investigate possible uses for the lunar resources according to the data of the previous mission.
What is the mission expected to discover?
The Changa 6 mission was designed to test scientific theories about the fundamental difference between the near and far side of the Moon. One of the main principles being tested is the thickness of the lunar crust, which is thicker on the far side than on the near side. This may explain why there is so little volcanic activity on the far side, in contrast to the extensive volcanic plains on the near side. The samples that Chang'e 6 will bring to Earth will help scientists test this hypothesis and investigate whether the composition of the chemical substances differs between the parties. In addition, the mission will provide important data on the geological and volcanic history of the Moon, which may solve several scientific mysteries facing the scientific community.
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- Chinese success: the Chang'e 6 spacecraft successfully landed on the far side of the moon for the mission of collecting material and bringing it to Earth
- The Chinese capsule with 2 kg of lunar soil landed safely (Change 5)
- The Chinese Yuto vehicle is already traveling with its six wheels on the lunar soil
