The returner of the Chang'e-6 probe touched down safely on Earth Tuesday, June 25, 2024, in Siziwang Banner, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It brought back the world's first samples collected from the Moon's far side south polar region. These are critical for a better understanding of the Moon's origin, its geological history, and its interactions with our planet.
Launched on May 3, 2024, the Chang'e-6 spacecraft has successfully completed its complex and challenging 53-day mission. It included landing on the Moon's far side, collecting south polar region samples, ascending, docking, and returning.
Samples were collected from the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin (43°±2° south latitude, 154°±4° west longitude)—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.
The Chang'e-6 Moon mission featured scientific instruments from France, Italy, Sweden, and Pakistan. The international scientific payloads carried by the Chang'e-6 mission included the French radon gas detector (CNES), the European Space Agency/Swedish ion analyzer, and the Italian laser corner reflector (Italian Space Agency), as well as the Pakistani ICUBE-Q cube lunar satellite.
On March 20, 2024, the Queqiao-2 lunar relay satellite was launched and put into orbit in order to facilitate Chang'e-6 mission communications between the far side of the Moon and the Earth.
Image Credit: China National Space Administration (CNSA)
Image Date: June 25, 2024
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