{"id":783346,"date":"2024-06-02T19:03:51","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T00:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=783346"},"modified":"2024-06-02T19:03:51","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T00:03:51","slug":"chinas-change-6-lands-on-moons-far-side-to-collect-samples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=783346","title":{"rendered":"China&#8217;s Chang&#8217;e-6 Lands on Moon&#8217;s Far Side to Collect Samples"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>After touching down on the moon\u2019s far side, China\u2019s Chang\u2019e-6 lander is collecting samples to bring back to Earth \u2014 and sending back imagery documenting its mission.<\/p>\n<p>Chang\u2019e-6, which was launched May 3, went through weeks\u2019 worth of in-space maneuvers that climaxed with its weekend landing in the moon\u2019s South Pole-Aitken Basin region. The mission plan calls for the probe to collect samples of lunar soil and rock over the course of about two days, and then pack them up for the return trip.<\/p>\n<p>If the operation is successful, Chang\u2019e-6 would bring back the first fresh lunar samples ever collected on the moon\u2019s far side \u2014 following up on the Chang\u2019e-5 mission in 2020, which returned samples from the moon\u2019s Earth-facing side.<\/p>\n<p><span id=\"more-167218\"\/><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Chang\u2019e-6 landing (Onboard Camera View)\" width=\"1110\" height=\"624\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/KRtdMTUTkt4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The China National Space Administration said the lander used its onboard camera during its powered descent to detect obstacles autonomously and select a safe landing site. Chang\u2019e-6 captured video imagery during the final phase of the lander\u2019s descent and transmitted the views back to Earth. One video frame shows the shadow of the lander itself moments before touchdown.<\/p>\n<p>Chang\u2019e-6 is built to collect samples using a drill and a robotic arm. It\u2019s also expected to gather scientific data about its surroundings using a radon detector, a negative-ion detector and a mini-rover. During surface operations, data and telemetry are being relayed between Chang\u2019e-6 and Earth via China\u2019s Queqiao-2 satellite.<\/p>\n<p>Up to 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of lunar samples will be stowed inside the lander\u2019s \u201cascender\u201d stage. The rocket-powered ascender will then lift off from the surface and transfer the samples to the Chang\u2019e-6 orbiter, which is currently in lunar orbit. Following the model set by Chang\u2019e-5, the orbiter will head back toward Earth and release the sample capsule for atmospheric re-entry and touchdown in Inner Mongolia.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An image captured by a camera aboard the Chang\u2019e-6 lander shows the spacecraft\u2019s shadow on the lunar surface just moments before touchdown. (Credit: CLEP \/ CNSA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The moon\u2019s south polar region is of particular interest because it\u2019s thought to harbor reserves of water ice that could support lunar settlement. Studying fresh samples from the South Pole-Aitken Basin could help scientists and mission planners learn more about the region\u2019s resources.<\/p>\n<p>Chang\u2019e-6 is the latest spacecraft in an international armada of moon landers \u2014 including Russia\u2019s Luna 25, iSpace\u2019s Hakuto-R and Astrobotic\u2019s Peregrine, which were unsuccessful, plus more fruitful missions such as India\u2019s Chandrayaan-3, Japan\u2019s SLIM and Intuitive Machines\u2019 Odysseus.<\/p>\n<p>Coming attractions include NASA\u2019s VIPER rover, which is currently due to be delivered to the moon late this year; and China\u2019s Chang\u2019e-7 mission, which features a hopping probe and is set for launch in 2026. Looking further ahead, China aims to send astronauts to the lunar surface by 2030 \u2014 not long after NASA\u2019s Artemis 3 crewed lunar landing, currently scheduled for 2026.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded\" id=\"like-post-wrapper-24000880-167218-665d06880981d\" data-src=\"https:\/\/widgets.wp.com\/likes\/?ver=13.2#blog_id=24000880&amp;post_id=167218&amp;origin=www.universetoday.com&amp;obj_id=24000880-167218-665d06880981d&amp;n=1\" data-name=\"like-post-frame-24000880-167218-665d06880981d\" data-title=\"Like or Reblog\">\n<h3 class=\"sd-title\">Like this:<\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"button\"><span>Like<\/span><\/span> <span class=\"loading\">Loading&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"sd-text-color\"\/><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.universetoday.com\/167218\/china-change6-sample-moon-far-side-video\/?rand=772204\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After touching down on the moon\u2019s far side, China\u2019s Chang\u2019e-6 lander is collecting samples to bring back to Earth \u2014 and sending back imagery documenting its mission. Chang\u2019e-6, which was&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":783347,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-783346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genaero"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=783346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/783346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/783347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=783346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=783346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=783346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}