China sent the Chang’e 6 spacecraft to the moon on Friday. A Long March-5 Y8 rocket took off from the Wenchang Cosmodrome on the southern Chinese tropical island of Hainan in the afternoon (local time). The unmanned probe is intended to land on the far side of the moon and from there bring rock samples back to Earth.
It is the Chinese’s sixth lunar mission since 2007. Most recently, “Chang’e 5” brought samples from the moon’s leading edge to Earth for research in 2020. Previously, in 2019, a rover, “Chang’e 4” landed , for the first time on the far side of the moon and explored the terrain there.
The mission is expected to last a total of 53 days
For the new mission, the orbiter is initially intended to orbit the moon. The lowered lander will then travel to the target area in Aitken’s Antarctic region to collect samples. The collected material is then transferred to the ascent module, which returns it to the orbiter. Then the return flight to Earth begins. In total, the mission is expected to last approximately 53 days.
As the scientific magazine ‘Science’ reports, the landing site is the largest and oldest impact crater on the moon. The basin therefore has a diameter of more than 2,500 kilometers and is eight kilometers deep. Scientists have long wanted to obtain rock samples from this region.
It is believed that the basin was formed by an asteroid impact. But how long ago was that? Some researchers think the basin formed 4.3 billion years ago, while others believe the impact occurred hundreds of millions of years later, Science says.
Instruments from different countries on board
As with previous missions, China also has instruments from other countries flying on “Chang”e-6”. The probe carries equipment from France, Italy, Sweden and Pakistan. For China, the sixth successful moon mission would also be a major mission alone. because in the recent past lunar probes from India, Israel, Japan and Russia did not reach their destination as planned.
In preparation for the mission, the People’s Republic has already placed a communications satellite into orbit around the moon. This is necessary so that the probe can maintain contact with the control center on Earth, as it must land on the far side of the moon in the south.
Manned mission planned for 2030
China wants to send a manned mission to the moon by 2030. The Earth’s satellite has become interesting again for many countries because it is believed that valuable raw materials are present there.
Source: Krone
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