China's Chang'e 6 probe will soon bring samples of the moon's far side to Earth -- and scientists are getting excited
By Rahul Rao
published 6 hours ago
The Chang'e 6 sample return mission is scheduled to return home on June 25, and the specimens it brings could answer longstanding lunar questions.
An image of China's Chang'e 6 lander on the moon's far side, snapped by the mission's minirover. (Image credit: CNSA/CLEP)
Early on June 25, after nearly two months in space, the Chang'e 6 spacecraft is returning to Earth. The probe is scheduled to land in Inner Mongolia, a highly northern region of China — and with its return will come gifts from the far side of the moon.
Naturally, lunar scientists are eagerly awaiting the probe’s return. Chang’e 6 is carrying about 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of lunar samples, the first-ever lunar far side specimens to be returned to our planet. And following the Chinese spacecraft's landing, expected to occur at 1:41 a.m. EDT (0541 GMT), a few Earthbound scientists will be able to get their hands on the precious samples and ready them for thorough investigation.
"The [Chang'e 6] samples, being the first obtained from the far side of the moon, are expected to answer one of the most fundamental scientific questions in lunar science research: What geologic activity is responsible for the differences between the two sides?" Zongyu Yue, a geologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in a statement.
Nine other lunar missions — from NASA's crewed Apollo flights and a handful of robotic probes to the Soviet Luna 16 mission in 1970 — have retrieved bits of the moon and returned them to Earth. But all nine got their samples from the moon's near side.
More:
https://www.space.com/change-6-sample-return-science-investigations-scientists