CHINA has successfully launched its Chang’e-6 spacecraft as part of its mission to retrieve new samples from the Moon.
Now, operators on Earth must await confirmation of it reaching it’s target destination: the far side of the Moon.
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The mission will take 53 days and will be done completely through a relay satellite orbiting the moon.
Chang’e-6 is thought to be getting sent up to collect 2kg worth of rock and dirt samples from the surface of the moon.
Chang’e-6 will collect samples from the far side of the Moon for the first time.
Ge Ping, vice director of China’s Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Centre
It is expected to land in the Aitken Basin in the lunar south pole, which is some 2,500km (1,553 miles) wide and up to 8km (5 miles) deep.
The spacecraft is made up of four main components: a lunar orbiter, lander, ascender and reentry module.
The orbiter and reentry module will stay in the Moon’s orbit, while the lander and ascender go to the lunar surface.
The relay satellite will allows ground operators on Earth keep eyes on the spacecraft.
Once the lander gathers its samples, it will join the ascender to make it way back to the reentry module that will eventually bring it home to Earth.
Ge Ping, vice director of China’s Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Centre, told reporters ahead of the launch: “Chang’e-6 will collect samples from the far side of the Moon for the first time.”
The three-part journey is intended to gather important data that will allow astronauts to return to the Moon by 2030.
Why the lunar south pole?
The lunar south pole has been a site of interest to all space-faring nations, including India, Russia, China and the US.
The south polar region is one of the Moon’s most resource-dense areas.
Last year, India made history by becoming the first country to land near the southern site.
Just days before, Russia also made an attempt at a south pole touchdown, which ended in a crash landing.
Nasa’s Artemis III mission is intended to explore a region near the lunar south pole.
The Artemis III mission forms parts of a decade-long programme that is hoped to culminate with a permanent lunar base by the end of the decade.
The south pole is, scientists believe, the most promising location for water-based ice, which will be key to future human habitation on the Moon.
Scientists also reckon there is an abundance of Helium-3 in so-called ‘cold traps’ littered across the south pole, which can help produce huge amounts of energy here on Earth.
If scientists are right, and there really is an abundance of Helium-3 on the Moon, humans could use it as fuel for the next century.
CHINA’S SPACE CITY
China hopes to deploy a Chang’e-7 in 2026 in search of water, and a Chang’e-8 in 2028 to establish the feasibility of the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS).
But by 2030, China forecasts it will have pinpointed a potential water supply and will have made a start on its ILRS.
By 2035, a basic model of ILRS will have been built to house lunar scientific experiments, according to a video released by China’s space agency earlier this week.
Here, astronauts will use local resources, like lunar regolith, to expand the base.
A decade later, in 2045, China aims to have a city-like base, in what it calls an “extended model” of the basic ILRS.
The base will be co-constructed by international partners, according to the China National Space Administration.
So far, the ILRS has nine country members, including China, Russia, Venezuela, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, South Africa, Egypt and Thailand.
Turkey and most recently Nicaragua have also reportedly applied to join.
Under President Xi Jinping’s leadership, China spent roughly $14billion (11.2billion) on its ambitious space programme in 2023, according to Statista.
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Beijing is adamant that its intentions for ILRS are to collect samples and carry out “scientific exploration”.
Although Nasa boss Bill Nelson believes China may actually be plotting to claim the Moon as its own territory.
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