China’s Chang’e 6 Lunar Sample Return Mission Launches Successfully – Latest Updates

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A China launched this Friday (3) the first overseas sample return mission Quote. Scientists hope that the recovery of about two kilograms of lunar material produced by the Chang’e 6 mission will help to investigate several mysteries related to the natural satellite.

The project is also another demonstration of the Chinese ability to land, in preparation for sending astronauts to the Moon by the end of the decade. “Chang’e 6 hopes to overcome obstacles in designing and controlling technologies for lunar return orbit. [no sentido contrário à rotação do satélite]intelligent sampling, lifting and ascent technologies and automatic return of samples on the far side of the moon,” said Ge Ping, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center at CNSA (Chinese space agency), in an interview with CCTV network state on the 27th.

The Long March 5 rocket to propel the spacecraft took off at 6:27 a.m. (Brasilia time), from the Wechang launch center, on the island of Hainan.

Consisting of four parts (orbiter, lander, ascent module and reentry capsule) with a total mass of 8.2 tons, the mission combines the legacy of two previous campaigns: Chang’e 4, which became the first ship -space in 2019. history of landing in the hidden lunar hemisphere (face never seen from Earth), and Chang’e 5, which became in 2020 the first lunar sample return mission Chinese, which lasted a total of 23 days. Chang’e 6 plans to do more and better, with a total duration of about 53 days.

Unlike the robotic sample return missions of the former Soviet Union, the Chinese all use a more complex architecture. Instead of a capsule departing directly from the Moon to return to Earth, the ascent module returns with a mothership in lunar orbit, and samples are automatically transferred to the return capsule before departure them back to Earth.

As a result, the step-by-step process is more reminiscent of the manned Apollo missions, which also included this reunion in lunar orbit before returning to Earth. Chinese program watchers have for years watched the overly complex venture as a precursor to future manned flights.

One of the challenges in carrying out a mission to the far side of the moon is that direct communication cannot be made between the probe and mission control on Earth. The solution is to launch a relay satellite in advance, which has a simultaneous view of the Earth and the hidden hemisphere of the Moon.

For Chang’e 4, the Chinese launched the Queqiao satellite in 2018; now, for the support of Chang’e 6, the Quequiao 2 was placed in lunar orbit. More sophisticated than its predecessor, it has a useful life of at least eight years and should also support the Chang’e 7 and 8 missions, which will aim for the moon’s south pole.

Chang’e 6 is scheduled to enter the great Apollo crater, part of the South Pole-Aitken basin, on the hidden side, 45 degrees South latitude, descending in an area containing a mixture of soil, the mission hopes to collect samples that will help explain why there are so many differences between the near side (with newer geology and large, darker regions called “oceans”) and the far side (almost no such seas, older and rich in cracks).

The results should also provide new insights into the history of impacts against rocky planets in the past. Solar system (the Moon, geologically inactive, is a fossil record of these events) and as an understanding of the evolution of the Earth’s natural satellite.

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION

In another important aspect of China’s space program, Chang’e 6 will bring good international cooperation. Four non-Chinese payloads will fly with it: Dorn, a device to detect radon emissions from lunar debris provided by France; a negative ion meter on the lunar surface, developed by Sweden with the support of ESA (European Space Agency); laser retroreflector for measuring distances from the lunar surface provided by Italy; and a small satellite (cubesat) which is the result of a partnership between the space agency of Pakistan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.

It is part of the strategy to recruit more partners for projects in space, in strong conflict with United States (which, under the law passed by the American Congress, is prohibited from cooperating with China in the space field).

Chang’e 6 is China’s last robotic lunar mission before the country begins developing its lunar station. Known by the acronym ILRS (Chinese Lunar Research Station), it will be built at the south pole and Chang’e 7 and 8 will be the first missions in direct connection with it, scheduled for 2026 and 2028.

ILRS currently has membership in 12 other countries: Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, NicaraguaPakistan, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey e Venezuela. Of these, Russia is the only one that has already established itself as a space power. The rest are getting a ride in what promises to be one of the great technological races of the 21st century.