Image source, Getty Images
- author, Georgina Lanard
- role, BBC Science Correspondent
A spacecraft launched from China in May is preparing to land on the far side of the moon, a place few have ventured to.
The Chang’e-6 mission aims to collect precious rocks and soil from the region for the first time in history.
The probe could potentially retrieve some of the Moon’s oldest rocks from a huge crater on the moon’s south pole.
However, landing would be risky, as communication with the spacecraft would be extremely difficult once it reaches the far side of the moon.
The Chang’e-6 spacecraft has been orbiting the moon since it launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on May 3, awaiting landing.
On Sunday, the lander portion of the mission will separate from the orbiter and attempt to touch down on the side of the moon that is farthest from Earth.
If successful, it should take up to three days to collect material from the surface.
“There’s a lot of excitement around the possibility of seeing rocks that no one has seen before,” explains John Parnett Fisher, a lunar geology expert at the University of Manchester.
He also analyzed other moon rocks returned by America’s Apollo missions and by an earlier Chinese mission.
But the opportunity to analyze rocks from completely different regions of the moon could help answer fundamental questions about how planets form, he says.
Most of the rocks collected so far are volcanic in origin, similar to those found in Iceland and Hawaii.
However, the substances on the other side have different chemical properties.
“That will help us answer some really big questions like how planets form, why the crust forms, what is the origin of water in the solar system,” he says.
According to the China National Space Administration, the mission aims to collect about 2 kg of material using a drill and mechanical arm.
The probe will visit an impact crater called South Pole-Aitken Basin, one of the largest known craters in the solar system.
From there, it may be possible to extract material from deep within the lunar mantle, says Professor Perne Fischer.
The lunar south pole is the next frontier for lunar exploration missions, and countries are eager to understand the region because of the high probability of ice present there.
Image source, Getty Images
Access to water would greatly increase the chances of successfully establishing a human lunar base for scientific research.
If the mission is successful, the spacecraft will return to Earth with the valuable samples in a special return capsule.
The materials are stored in special conditions to keep them as close to pristine as possible.
Chinese scientists will be given the first opportunity to analyze the rocks, after which researchers from around the world will be able to apply for the opportunity.
This is the second time China has launched a lunar sample collection mission.
In 2020, Chang’e 5 brought back 1.7 kg of material from a region on the near side of the moon called the Ocean of Storms.
China is looking to explore water on the moon and establish a permanent base there, and plans three more unmanned missions this decade.
