China’s Chang’e 6 lunar probe mission made history by successfully touching down on the far side of the moon and even sent a stunning video of its landing.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) probe arrived at the moon on Sunday (June 2) at 6:23 a.m. Beijing time, which was 6:23 p.m. Saturday (June 1) EDT (2223 UTC). The video was captured by the Camera for the landing of the Chang’e-6 lander shows the spacecraft’s close approach to the lunar surface as well as its touchdown.
The video shows a region of the moon that humanity can never see from Earth. This is because the Moon is tidally locked, meaning that one of the lunar hemispheres always faces our planet, while the other always faces space.
Missions to the far side of the Moon are rare, with the near side much easier to reach and explore; so far, China is the only country to have achieved a soft landing on the far side of the moon. NASA’s Ranger 4 was the first spacecraft to land on the far side of the Moon in 1962, but it was an emergency landing and failed to send any data back to Earth. This is CNSA’s second lunar landing on the far side of the Moon. In January 2019, the Chang’e 4 mission deposited a combination lander and rover on the hidden lunar hemisphere.
Connected: The cold moonlit night may have finally swallowed Japan’s SLIM lander
Mankind’s first look at this elusive hemisphere of the Moon came in 1959, thanks to a grainy view from the former Soviet Union’s Luna 3 spacecraft. Then, in 1968, as part of the Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission, astronaut William Anders transmitted incredible footage from the far side of the moon to Earth. The Apollo 8 crew members were the first people to lay eyes on this lunar region without the aid of optical devices.
The Chang’e 6 video shows that the new mission is already shedding light on a mysterious region on Earth’s known moon.
The Chang’e 6 landing zone, which is named after a moon goddess in Chinese mythology, is in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, 1,600 miles (2,500 kilometers) wide and 4 miles to 5 miles (6.4 to 8-kilometer ) deep impact crater.
Chang’e 6, which launched on May 3 and entered lunar orbit four days later, will now spend several days using its onboard drill to collect lunar dirt, or “regolith,” and rocks from the landing site. If all goes according to plan, the Chang’e 6 landing won’t be its only historic moment. CNSA intends to use the robotic mission to return 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of lunar material back to Earth.
“The Chang’e-6 mission is the first human sample collection and return mission from the far side of the Moon,” CNSA officials said in a translated statement. “It involves a lot of engineering innovation, high risks and great difficulty.”
Chang’e 6 will launch lunar material into orbit on the rocket that carried the lander to the Moon on June 2. The Chang’e 6 orbiter, which has remained in space around the moon, will pick up the sample container before parachuting it back to Earth on June 25.
Samples returned from the far side of the Moon will be the subject of intense scientific study as researchers try to unlock the secrets of this strange lunar hemisphere.
These studies will include trying to determine why the near side of the moon is marked by large, dark volcanic plains called “marias,” while the far side is not. Marias are thought to have formed from lava flowing into ancient impact basins.
Chang’e 6 will soon join the Moon with other missions of the same name. Chang’e 7 is due to launch next year, heading to the moon’s south pole region to search for water ice reserves, and Chang’e 8 is scheduled to launch in 2028. The latter will also head to the Moon’s south pole, but aims to test field use for the resources that Chang’e 7 uncovers and reveal how they can benefit human lunar exploration. This comes ahead of CNSA’s plan to send crewed missions to the Moon by 2030.
