The Chinese probe Chang’e 6 successfully landed this Sunday on the far side of the Moon, thus completing another step in its mission to collect samples for the first time in history from the part least visible from Earth of the satellite. Her mission is to obtain samples from that region in less than two months, after landing there, take off back to Earth. In addition, she has carried three European scientific loads there. It is the fourth time that China has managed to land successfully in a few years, with the ships Chang’e 3 (in 2013), 4, 5 and now the 6further proof of his space muscle.
The China National Space Administration reported that the probe, which took off on May 3, successfully executed the landing maneuver at 6:23 local time (00:23 Spanish peninsular time) in the Aitken-South Pole Basin. During descent, an autonomous visual obstacle avoidance system was used to automatically detect obstacles. A visible light camera selected a comparatively safe landing zone based on the lightness and darkness of the lunar surface. After landing, the probe plans to complete sampling within two days. To do this, it will use two methods: a drill to obtain elements from the subsurface and a robotic arm to collect specimens from the lunar surface.
The probe, whose round trip will take about 53 days, is made up of four components: an orbiter, a lunar lander, an elevator and a reentry module. The Chang’e program, named after a goddess from Chinese legends who lives on the Moon, began with the launch of a first probe in 2007.
In recent years, Beijing has invested heavily in its space program and has achieved milestones such as the successful moon landing of the Chang’e 4 on the far side of the Moon in January 2019, an achievement that no other country had achieved to date, and the construction of its own space station. The Chang’e 5 He already managed to bring back some samples with stones and ice in 2020.
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