HELSINKI — China’s Chang’e-6 lunar far side sample return spacecraft entered orbit around the moon late Tuesday, in another step towards collecting lunar samples.
The Chang’e-6 spacecraft is understood to be in an elliptical lunar orbit with a periapsis of around 200 kilometers.
Chang’e-6 will next release a 7-kilogram cubesat named Icube-Q into lunar orbit.
The mission lander will separate from the spacecraft in the days ahead of the landing attempt in Apollo crater.
The Chang’e-6 mission is expected to last 53 days from launch till landing, according to information published by the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) under CNSA.
Samples will be sent into lunar orbit via an ascent vehicle, which will then track the Chang’e-6 orbiter.
The orbiter would then prepare to leave lunar orbit at a calculated time.
The country aims to launch its first crewed lunar mission by 2030.
HELSINKI — On Tuesday night, China’s Chang’e-6 lunar far side sample return spacecraft made a second step toward gathering lunar samples when it entered lunar orbit.
The orbiter Chang’e-6 finished its braking burn at 10:21 p.m. m. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) declared that on May 7 (0221 UTC May 8), the craft will slow down to allow the moon’s gravity to take it over.
Launched on May 3, the mission set out to reach the moon in approximately 112 hours. With significant scientific benefits in store, this is the first attempt to gather samples from the moon’s far side.
For the braking burn, the orbiter’s 3,000N engine was employed. The Chang’e-6 spacecraft is believed to be in an elliptical lunar orbit with a 200 km periapsis. A 7-kilogram cubesat called Icube-Q will be launched into lunar orbit by Chang’e-6 next. Subsequently, the primary spacecraft will progressively round its orbit in anticipation of landing.
In the days preceding the attempted landing in Apollo crater, the mission lander will detach from the spacecraft. Although not formally confirmed, the landing is anticipated to occur in early June because the lighting over Apollo Crater is currently not ideal for landing and surface operations.
The target landing area is believed to contain material excavated from the moon’s mantle and is located within the enormous, ancient South Pole-Aitken Basin (SPA). New knowledge about the moon, especially regarding its history and the differences between its near and far hemispheres, may be gained through analysis of such samples.
After Chang’e-6, what next?
Information released by the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL) under CNSA states that the Chang’e-6 mission is anticipated to take 53 days from launch to landing.
May 28 will see the sunrise over Apollo Crater. Accordingly, Chang’e-6 is probably going to try landing in early June, once the sun has risen high enough in the sky to cover the landing site. The attempt’s timing will be based on limitations on surface lighting conditions for power generation and the spacecraft’s orbit.
Like with Chang’e-5, for which Chang’e-6 is a repurposed backup, sampling operations will probably be completed 48 hours after landing. An ascent vehicle will carry samples into lunar orbit and then follow the Chang’e-6 orbiter.
According to the previous mission, the two are expected to meet and dock approximately two days following launch, with the ascender being discarded a few days after that. The orbiter would then get ready to depart the lunar orbit at a predetermined time. Then, on or around June 25, it would launch a reentry capsule shortly before making its way back to Earth.
Earth never gets to see the moon’s far side. The moon is tidally locked because our planet slows down its rotation. As such, the Queqiao-2 satellite supports the mission. To relay messages between Chang’e-6 on the far side and Earthly ground stations, Queqiao-2 is in a specialized orbit.
Other goals.
In addition to returning samples, Chang’e-6 also carries payloads for future scientific research. In addition to the aforementioned cubesat, the mission includes international payloads from France, Sweden, Italy, and Pakistan.
Additionally, the French-made Detection of Outgassing RadoN (DORN) instrument is carried by the lander. This will identify any outgassing of radon from the lunar crust. Sweden provided the “Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface” (NILS) payload with assistance from ESA. The lander is equipped with an Italian passive laser retro-reflector as well.
Chang’e-6 is carrying a small rover, according to photos of the spacecraft that were made public after launch.
Part of China’s larger lunar objectives is Chang’e-6. The nation will then launch two missions to the lunar south pole. Chang’e-7 in 2026 and Chang’e-8 in the vicinity of 2028 are these. By 2030, the nation hopes to send out its first crewed lunar mission.
The goal of both mission sets is to create a long-term lunar base. The 2030s will see the completion of this project, which is referred to as the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). Numerous nations and institutions have committed to the project.
