China's Chang'e-6 Science Mission Enters Lunar Orbit after Near-Moon Braking

China's Chang'e-6 Science Mission Enters Lunar Orbit after Near-Moon Braking

China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe has successfully entered its circumlunar orbit, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said on May 8, 2024. The near-moon braking procedure is a key orbital control for Chang'e-6 during its flight. The braking makes its relative speed lower than the lunar escape velocity, so that it can be captured by the moon's gravity and orbit the moon.

The Chang'e-6 mission features scientific payloads from France, Italy, Sweden, and Pakistan. The international scientific payloads carried by the Chang'e-6 mission include the French radon gas detector (CNES), the European Space Agency/Swedish ion analyzer, and the Italian laser corner reflector (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana), as well as the Pakistani ICUBE-Q cube satellite. The mission will last about 53 days. 

Chang'e-6's pre-selected landing area is located in the southern part of the Apollo basin in the South Pole–Aitken (SPA) basin (43°±2° south latitude, 154°±4° west longitude). The SPA basin is a large impact crater on the far side of the Moon. At roughly 2,500 km (1,600 mi) in diameter and between 6.2 and 8.2 km (3.9–5.1 mi) deep, it is the largest, oldest, and deepest basin recognized on the Moon.

In 2020, Chang'e-5 was the first lunar sample-return mission since the Soviet Union's Luna 24 in 1976. The mission made China the third country to return samples from the Moon after the United States and the Soviet Union.

Video Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)

Duration: 1 minute, 25 seconds

Release Date: May 8, 2024

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