China's Chang'e-6 Retrieves over 1,935 Grams of Samples from Moon's Far Side

China's Chang'e-6 Retrieves over 1,935 Grams of Samples from Moon's Far Side

China's historic Chang'e-6 mission collected a total of 1,935.3 grams of samples from the far side of the Moon, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced on Friday, June 28, 2024, as the valuable samples were handed over to the Chinese Academy of Sciences at a special ceremony held in Beijing.

China's historic Chang'e-6 probe has retrieved a total 1,935.3 grams of samples from the far side of the Moon, the China National Space Administration announced on Friday, as the valuable samples were handed over to the Chinese Academy of Sciences at a special ceremony held in Beijing.

The Chang'e-6 probe's returner touched down in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Tuesday, June 25, completing its momentous 53-day mission to the lunar far side and marking another milestone in China's space exploration program.

The international space science community has also hailed the historical significance of the accomplishment, and believe the samples can offer global scientists the chance to uncover hidden secrets from the Moon's mysterious far side.

After the samples were brought back to Beijing earlier this week and officially handed over to scientists, the Chang'e-6 mission has now transitioned from the engineering implementation stage to a new phase of scientific research. Following the safe transportation of the precious samples to the lunar sample lab, researchers will carry out storage and processing tasks as planned and later initiate scientific research work.

An initial visual inspection of the contents of the sealed container has already provided interesting indications that the mineral and chemical composition may differ significantly compared to the samples brought back by the predecessor Chang'e-5 probe. It retrieved a total of 1,700 grams from the surface of the near side of the moon in December 2020.

"From the appearance, we found that the Chang'e-6 samples look stickier than previous [lunar] samples and are more compacted, which is clear to see. Certainly, we also look forward to new scientific discoveries and results through systematic follow-up work," said Ge Ping, a spokesman for the Chang'e-6 mission.

The scientific research regarding these samples will involve multiple academic disciplines and research directions, including conducting basic physical and chemical properties analysis, as well as in-depth geological and geochemical studies, with scientists expected to have the opportunity to delve into the secrets contained within these precious samples in the coming months.

"As for the next step, the National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is the general unit of the ground system of our lunar mission, will first unseal the sample container, and then prepare the samples obtained from drilling and surface retrieval, and pack them for storage. At the same time, according to the regulations on lunar sample management issued by the China National Space Administration, it is expected that applications will be open to domestic scientific research institutions and scientists after half a year," said Ge.

The Chang'e-6 probe, comprising an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a returner, was launched on May 3, 2024, from south China's tropical island province of Hainan.

Supported by the Queqiao-2 relay satellite—put into position shortly before the mission to aid communication with the 'dark side' of the Moon—the lander-ascender combination landed at the designated lunar landing area in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin on June 2 and began its pivotal sampling work.

The colossal SPA Basin was formed by a celestial impact over 4.3 billion years ago and has a diameter of 2,500 km and a depth of about 13 km. It is believed to be the largest impact crater found in the inner solar system so far.

Experts believe the study of the samples will increase understandings of the formation of Earth, the Moon, and the solar system, and could advance efforts to learn how to use resources on the moon for future space exploration.

China had already been the first country to achieve a successful soft landing on the Moon's far side with its Chang'e-4 mission back in 2019.

Earlier this month, an expert involved in planning the fourth phase of China's lunar exploration projects, said the future Chang'e-7 and 8 missions will help pave the way for the development of deep space exploration technologies, and enable China to push ahead with its plan for establishing a scientific research station on the Moon to carry out long-term research.

Video Credit: China Central Television (CCTV) Video News Agency

Duration: 1 minute, 28 seconds

Release Date: June 28, 2024

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