by China’s lunar probe Chang’e-6 blasted off from the far side of the moon on Tuesday, moving a step closer to completing an ambitious mission that underscores the country’s rise as a space superpower.
A symbolic moment before liftoff, China is reported to be the first country to display its national flag on the far side of the moon, permanently facing Earth.
The probe, carrying the first lunar rocks ever collected from the far side of the moon, lifted off and entered lunar orbit early Tuesday in Beijing, after successfully collecting samples over the previous two days, according to statements from the China National Space Administration. CNSA).
Its return trip to Earth is estimated to take about three weeks, and is expected to land in China’s Central Mongolia region around June 25.
A successful return of the samples would give China a head start in reaping the strategic and scientific benefits of extended lunar exploration — an increasingly competitive field that has fueled what NASA chief executive Bill Nelson calls a new “space race.” on him.
This is the second time China has collected samples from the moon, after the Chang’e-5 returned rocks from the near side in 2020.
Earlier this year, Nelson appeared to acknowledge China’s speed – and concern about its intentions – was driving America’s urgency to return to the moon, decades after its Apollo crewed missions.
A photo posted by CNSA on Tuesday trending on China’s X-like platform Weibo shows the surface drilled in a shape that resembles the Chinese character “zhong,” or “middle” in English — the first character in the Chinese word for “China.”
The Chang’e-6 probe “stood the test of high temperatures” and collected the samples by drilling into the lunar surface and scooping up the soil and rocks with a mechanical hand, CNSA said.
After collecting the specimens, Chang’e-6 extended a robotic arm to raise the Chinese flag, according to an animation released by CNSA.
The flag, made of basalt volcanic rock, was designed to withstand erosion and the extreme temperatures on the far side of the moon in anticipation of future lunar missions, a Chang’e-6 engineer told state broadcaster CCTV.
The rock was “crushed, melted and drawn into filaments about one-third the diameter of a human hair, then spun into thread and woven into cloth,” said engineer Zhou Changyi.
“The lunar surface is rich in basalt,” Zhou said. “Since we are building a lunar base in the future, we will most likely have to make basalt into fibers and use it as a building material.”
A historic mission
Chang’e-6 landed Sunday morning in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the oldest impact basin on the moon that formed about 4 billion years ago. This was the second time a mission has successfully reached the far side of the moon, after China first completed that historic feat in 2019 with its Chang’e-4 probe.
If all goes as planned, the mission – which began on May 3 and is expected to last 53 days – could be an important milestone in China’s push to become a dominant space power.
The country’s plans include landing astronauts on the moon by 2030 and building a research base at the south pole, a region believed to contain water ice.
Samples collected by the Chang’e-6 lander could provide important clues about the origin and evolution of the moon, the Earth and the solar system, experts say – and the mission itself provides important data and technical practice for the moon’s ambitions To promote China.
“The enigmatic side of the moon is so different from the side of the moon in so many ways, that lunar scientists cannot fully understand the moon as a complete planetary body without returning samples,” said James Head, professor emeritus in Brown University. he collaborated with Chinese scientists leading the mission. “Samples sent back from Chang’e 6 will allow great progress to be made in solving these problems.”
The far side of the moon is out of range for normal communications, meaning Chang’e-6 must also rely on a satellite launched into lunar orbit in March, the Queqiao-2.
China plans to launch two more missions in the Chang-e series as it approaches its 2030 goal of sending astronauts to the moon.
Space race
Multiple countries are expanding their lunar programs, with an increased focus on accessing resources and further deep space exploration.
Last year, India landed a spacecraft on the moon for the first time, while Russia’s first lunar landing mission in decades ended when its Luna 25 probe crashed into the lunar surface.
In January, Japan became the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the moon, although its Moon Sniper lander experienced power problems due to an incorrect landing angle. The following month, IM-1, a NASA-funded mission designed by the Texas-based private firm Intuitive Machines, touched down near the moon’s south pole.
That landing – the first by a US spacecraft in more than five decades – is among several planned commercial missions intended to explore the lunar surface before NASA tries to return US astronauts there as early as 2026 and build his base science camp.
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