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China is about to land on the far side of the moon with Chang'e 6
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2433586-china-is-about-to-land-on-the-far-side-of-the-moon-with-change-6/(New Scientist articles are often paywalled, but this one doesn't seem to be)
China is about to land on the far side of the moon with Chang'e 6
Landing on the far side of the moon is rarely attempted, due to difficulties communicating with Earth, but China is about to try. If successful, its Chang'e 6 mission will then bring lunar samples back home
By Alex Wilkins
30 May 2024
The Chang’e 6 spacecraft will attempt to land on the far side of the moon on 1 June. If successful, it will extract the first samples of lunar rock from this largely unexplored region of the moon and attempt to bring them back to Earth.
What is the Chang’e 6 spacecraft?
China’s Chang’e series of lunar spacecraft have taken on steadily more ambitious missions, with the eventual goal of establishing a crewed base on the moon in the 2030s. Chang’e 6, which launched aboard a Long March 5 rocket on 3 May, is China’s second sample return mission, after Chang’e 5 successfully delivered a kilogram of material from the moon’s near side to Earth in 2020.
Chang’e 6, however, will attempt to collect around 2 kilograms of material from the far side of the moon, which faces permanently away from Earth. It is harder to land on compared with the near side because of the lack of a direct communications link with Earth, so it is little explored and we have no samples from the region.
Where is Chang’e 6 landing on the moon?
The spacecraft is targeting the Apollo crater in the far side’s southern hemisphere. Scientists hope that these samples might indicate how much water ice is trapped in the region, for future crewed missions, as well as help explain the origin of the larger South Pole-Aitken impact basin the Apollo crater sits in and how the moon was formed. As well as equipment for gathering samples, the lander also has four scientific instruments, from French, Italian, Pakistani and Swedish teams, to analyse and study the landing area.
[...]
Landing on the far side of the moon is rarely attempted, due to difficulties communicating with Earth, but China is about to try. If successful, its Chang'e 6 mission will then bring lunar samples back home
By Alex Wilkins
30 May 2024
The Chang’e 6 spacecraft will attempt to land on the far side of the moon on 1 June. If successful, it will extract the first samples of lunar rock from this largely unexplored region of the moon and attempt to bring them back to Earth.
What is the Chang’e 6 spacecraft?
China’s Chang’e series of lunar spacecraft have taken on steadily more ambitious missions, with the eventual goal of establishing a crewed base on the moon in the 2030s. Chang’e 6, which launched aboard a Long March 5 rocket on 3 May, is China’s second sample return mission, after Chang’e 5 successfully delivered a kilogram of material from the moon’s near side to Earth in 2020.
Chang’e 6, however, will attempt to collect around 2 kilograms of material from the far side of the moon, which faces permanently away from Earth. It is harder to land on compared with the near side because of the lack of a direct communications link with Earth, so it is little explored and we have no samples from the region.
Where is Chang’e 6 landing on the moon?
The spacecraft is targeting the Apollo crater in the far side’s southern hemisphere. Scientists hope that these samples might indicate how much water ice is trapped in the region, for future crewed missions, as well as help explain the origin of the larger South Pole-Aitken impact basin the Apollo crater sits in and how the moon was formed. As well as equipment for gathering samples, the lander also has four scientific instruments, from French, Italian, Pakistani and Swedish teams, to analyse and study the landing area.
[...]