Launch preparations are quickening for China’s next spacecraft sendoff to the moon — the robotic Chang’e 6 mission.The spacecraft now sits atop a Long March 5 rocket at its departure site in Wenchang, in China’s Hainan province. Chang’e 6 is reportedly scheduled to launch on Friday (May 3) at 3:50 a.m. EDT (0759 GMT; 3:50 p.m. Beijing time).The 8.2-metric-ton Chang’e 6 is targeted to touch down in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin on the far side of the moon. The mission consists of four components: an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a reentry module.Related: The latest news about China’s space programFirst-time tryChang’e 6 will make the first-ever attempt to return dust and rocks from the lunar far side. If all goes to plan, these samples will be placed on the ascender for transport from the surface into lunar orbit, followed by transfer into a reentry module that hauls the collectibles to Earth.The United States, the former Soviet Union and China have all brought lunar samples to Earth. China was the most recent to do so, with its Chang’e 5 mission in 2020. But all of this material was collected on the near side, the part of the moon that’s always facing Earth.China scored the first-ever soft landing on the lunar far side with its Chang’e 4 lander-rover mission back in early January 2019.According to Xingguo Zeng, of the Laboratory of Lunar and Deep Space Exploration at the National Astronomical Observatories, Chang’e 6 is designed to address questions about the multiple lunar near side–far side dichotomies, and to provide new insights into both the early impact history of the solar system and the geological evolution of the moon.Toward that end, Chang’e 6 will touch down in the southern part of the Apollo basin, which provides access to a diversity of SPA material, Xingguo recently stated in a paper published in Nature.Related: The moon: Everything you need to kno …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnLaunch preparations are quickening for China’s next spacecraft sendoff to the moon — the robotic Chang’e 6 mission.The spacecraft now sits atop a Long March 5 rocket at its departure site in Wenchang, in China’s Hainan province. Chang’e 6 is reportedly scheduled to launch on Friday (May 3) at 3:50 a.m. EDT (0759 GMT; 3:50 p.m. Beijing time).The 8.2-metric-ton Chang’e 6 is targeted to touch down in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin on the far side of the moon. The mission consists of four components: an orbiter, a lander, an ascender and a reentry module.Related: The latest news about China’s space programFirst-time tryChang’e 6 will make the first-ever attempt to return dust and rocks from the lunar far side. If all goes to plan, these samples will be placed on the ascender for transport from the surface into lunar orbit, followed by transfer into a reentry module that hauls the collectibles to Earth.The United States, the former Soviet Union and China have all brought lunar samples to Earth. China was the most recent to do so, with its Chang’e 5 mission in 2020. But all of this material was collected on the near side, the part of the moon that’s always facing Earth.China scored the first-ever soft landing on the lunar far side with its Chang’e 4 lander-rover mission back in early January 2019.According to Xingguo Zeng, of the Laboratory of Lunar and Deep Space Exploration at the National Astronomical Observatories, Chang’e 6 is designed to address questions about the multiple lunar near side–far side dichotomies, and to provide new insights into both the early impact history of the solar system and the geological evolution of the moon.Toward that end, Chang’e 6 will touch down in the southern part of the Apollo basin, which provides access to a diversity of SPA material, Xingguo recently stated in a paper published in Nature.Related: The moon: Everything you need to kno …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
