A sample return mission to the far side of the moon by China’s robot Chang’e 6 is currently in orbit around the moon, preparing for a landing attempt.
The multi-component spacecraft is scheduled to land in early June. Antarctic Aitken (SPA) Basina massive impact terrain approximately 1,550 miles (2,500 kilometers) wide.
Chang’e 6 is currently awaiting optimal lighting conditions in the area and is looking for an optimal landing site in or around the Apollo Basin, which is part of the larger SPA landscape.
Related: China’s Chang’e 6 spacecraft, which explores the far side of the moon, has big lunar mysteries to solve
53 days mission
Chang’e 6 is scheduled to land a lander/elevator on the lunar surface and keep the spacecraft in orbit around the moon. moonWithin 48 hours of landing, the lander will extend its robotic arm to scoop up rocks and soil from the lunar surface and use a drill to drill holes into the moon’s near side.
These lunar collectibles will depart from the Moon and be placed inside the Ascender to dock with the Orbiter/Returner in lunar orbit.
The Chang’e 6 mission will then begin its return journey. After about five days of flight, the return capsule will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and land in the Xiziwangqi region of northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The entire mission lasted 53 days. Released on May 3rd The capsule containing the sample will be returned to Earth.
landing zone
As the largest and oldest impact structure on the moon, the SPA basin is one of the highest priority sites for future lunar exploration and lunar sample return.
One potential landing site for Chang’e 6 is Cryptomare, a series of volcanic deposits partially hidden by craters, south of the Apollo Basin, known as Area 1.
This area is not just about the Chang’e 6 landing strip planning. NASA’s lunar mission, Endurance, is designed to traverse the basin through its center and bring back samples from the area.
The samples collected by these missions will provide important ground-truth data to assess the early thermal history of the far side of the Moon and compare it with samples from the near side of the Moon collected by China. Chang’e 5 mission There’s also a NASA crew. apollo The efforts could also help elucidate the cause of hemispheric asymmetry in the lunar mare deposits, scientists say.
Learn more about the SPA Basin and the mysterious geology of the far side of the Moon. This papertitled “On the far side of the Moon, inside the Antarctic Aitken Basin: Evidence for a more widespread central cryptomaria in the Antarctic Aitken Composition Anomaly (SPACA)”.
