China aims to become the first country to recover samples from the far side of the moon, with an ambitious mission to send a probe to unexplored territory launched on Friday.
Launching unmanned missions is a key part of China’s goal to become a space power and eventually send its own astronauts to the moon in the coming years. The far side of the moon is shrouded in mystery, according to multiple reports, and China hopes to obtain and return samples to glean important insights into how and why it is so different from the far side of the moon. He hopes that it will be possible.
Friday’s launch also comes amid an escalating multilateral space race between countries including India, Japan and the United States aiming for the moon. Space agencies around the world see the Moon as a valuable destination because of the resources it provides to support further deep space exploration and missions to Mars.
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China’s Chang’e 6 probe conducts 53-day mission
The Chang’e 6 lunar probe, named after China’s mythical moon goddess, was mounted on a rocket and lifted off from the Wenchang Launch Center on southern China’s Hainan Island at 5:27 p.m. on Friday.
The spacecraft carrying the lander separated from China’s Long March 5 rocket within about 35 minutes as spectators gathered to witness the historic moment, which was broadcast live on state broadcaster CCTV. The country’s National Space Agency announced that the launch was a success, multiple media outlets reported.
The anticipated 53-day mission comes after China accomplished its first robotic moon landing in nearly 40 years in 2013 and completed its own orbital space station, Tiangong, to rival the International Space Station in 2022. It will be held two years after. .
According to reports, the probe carrying the Chang’e 6 lander will take about five days to reach the far side of the moon, which never faces Earth, and will then orbit for another 20 days. The lander will drill into the surface within 48 hours of landing, scoop up samples with a robotic arm, and prepare for return to Earth, the Associated Press reported.
The mission follows a 2020 mission in which its predecessor, Chang’e 5, collected about 4 pounds of regolith from the moon’s near side and brought it to Earth. Geping, deputy director of the China National Space Administration’s (CNSA) Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center, told reporters last week shortly after launch that by analyzing the samples, Chinese scientists had discovered that both sides of the moon could be He said he hopes to find out the reason for the difference. According to CNN, the site.
The main goal of China’s space program is to land astronauts on the moon by 2030. It will be four years after the U.S. astronauts are scheduled to return to the moon for the first time in 2026 since the Apollo era ended 50 years ago.
Japan’s lunar lander loses power on the moon
China’s mission is the latest in a series of lunar exploration missions aimed at orbiting or landing on the moon’s surface.
Last year, India landed its first spacecraft, Chandrayaan-3, on the moon, at the same time that Russia’s Luna 25, the first lunar probe in decades, crashed into the moon and failed.
In January, Japan became the fifth country to reach the moon’s surface with an unmanned spacecraft, following India, the United States, Russia/Soviet Union, and China. The lander continues to roar on the surface, and its chances of survival far exceed its chances more than three months after landing.
NASA plans future US moon missions through Artemis
For the United States, American astronauts have not set foot on the moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972. NASA’s Artemis mission hopes to return the nation to the moon’s surface to establish a base of operations ahead of a manned trip to Mars.
But Artemis has been mired in delays and controversy as elected officials and other aviation experts have raised concerns about the scope and cost of the ambitious plan.
Before humans could return to the moon, NASA needed an American spacecraft to reach the lunar surface and clear the way for humans’ arrival.
Those hopes were initially dashed in January when an unmanned spacecraft designed by Pittsburgh-based aerospace company Astrobotic encountered a number of problems. The Hayabusa lander never reached the moon, but the United States got a second chance a month later.
The Odysseus lander, designed by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, landed on its side on February 22, but still reached the surface and transmitted data.
NASA, the mission’s primary customer, paid a large sum of money to equip the lander with extensive scientific equipment to collect data to help prepare for future lunar missions.
Within a week of landing near the South Pole, Odysseus was on the verge of losing power for good. Intuitive Machines said in its last update on March 23 that Odysseus’ power was depleted and the plane was gone forever, after cementing its legacy in history as the “first commercial lunar lander to land on the moon.” ”.
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Please contact elagatta@gannett.com.
