3 mei 2024 om 14:12
China wants to be the first country to take rocks and soil from the ‘back’ of the moon. The Chang’E-6, the spacecraft that will carry out this mission, was launched from Hainan Island on Friday.
The Chang’E-6 is scheduled to land in June in the Apollo crater, near the moon’s south pole.
China has sent craft to the moon before. In 2007 and 2010, the satellites Chang’E-1 and Chang’E-2 entered orbit around it. In 2013, China became the third country ever to safely land a lander on the moon’s surface with the Chang’E-3 mission. The successor, Chang’E-4, landed on the far side of the moon. No country had achieved this before.
With the Chang’E-5, China achieved a new milestone by bringing material from the moon to Earth. That happened from the side of the moon that is visible from Earth.
So now China is going to the far side of the moon, or the part of the moon that is never visible from Earth. The landing in particular can be difficult on this mission. The flight control has no direct connection with the vessel, because the moon is in between and makes this impossible.
Material from old craters can teach us a lot about the moon
If the landing is successful, Chang’E-6 will have two days to dig up about 2 kilograms of material. This will be investigated by scientists after return. The Apollo crater is much older than any material previously retrieved from the moon. This allows scientists to gain new knowledge about the moon’s past.
If this mission goes well, China wants to build a moon base and send manned flights to the moon as the next step. The missions are named after Chang’e, the goddess of the moon in ancient Chinese myths.
