NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has observed China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft on the far side of the moon for the first time.
of Chang’e 6 On either side of the lander are two craters roughly the size of the lander, and they sit on the rim of a much smaller crater about 165 feet (50 meters) wide, reported Mark Robinson, principal investigator for LRO’s Sharp Eyes camera system.
LRO discovered Chang’e 6 within the Apollo Basin on the far side of the Moon. Moon June 7, 2024. The lander is visible as a small cluster of bright pixels in the center of the image.
Rim Shot
Union China’s Chang’e-6 sample return spacecraft was photographed on the far side of the moon. landing.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team calculated the landing site coordinates to be -41.6385°N, 206.0148°E, -17,244 feet (-5,256 meters) above the mean lunar surface, with an estimated horizontal accuracy of plus or minus 100 feet (30 meters).
“Increased lighting of the terrain around the lander is due to disturbances from the lander’s engines and is similar to explosion zones seen around other lunar landers,” the LROC team wrote in their report. Description of “Figure 1-13 Oracle Identity Manager Proxy Server”.
Related: Watch dramatic video as China’s Chang’e-6 probe lands on the far side of the moon
Members of the LROC team also posted an image of the same area taken on March 3, 2022, to show what Chang’e 6 looked like prior to its landing and to highlight the rover’s presence on the lunar surface.
Chang’e 6’s landing site is located in an area of maria (a “sea” of cooled volcanic rock) at the southern end of the Apollo Basin.
Robinson and his colleagues at Arizona State University note that basaltic lava erupted south of Chaffee S Crater about 3.1 billion years ago and traveled down toward the east, encountering a topographical high point that appears to be related to a fault.
“Several wrinkled ridges in this region have deformed and raised the ocean surface,” the LROC image caption reads. “The landing site is located approximately halfway between two of these ridges. The lava flow also overlaps a slightly older lava flow (about 3.3 Ga) visible to the east, but the younger flow is distinctive due to its higher content of iron oxide (FeO) and titanium oxide (TiO2)” (“Ga” is scientist jargon for “billions of years ago”).
On the way home
Chang’e-6 is due to launch from southern China’s Hainan province on May 3, with the goal of bringing back lunar samples from the far side of the moon. Earth It is the first time.
After completing its lunar sample collection, the probe’s ascent section departed from the lunar surface with its precious cargo. June 3.
After reuniting with the Chang’e-6 Mission Orbiter and completing the transfer of lunar samples, the return segment will continue to orbit the Moon, awaiting the time to begin its return journey to Earth.
The mission’s return capsule carrying the lunar collectibles is scheduled to land on Earth around June 25. The capsule will parachute down to a pre-determined landing site in Xiziwang Banner, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of northern China, concluding its 53-day space mission.
