The Chinese lunar probe Chang’e 6 successfully took off this Friday with the aim of collecting samples from the far side of the Moon for the first time in history.
A Long March-5 Y8 carrier rocket successfully boosted the spacecraft from the Wenchang launch site in the southern province of Hainan at 17:27 local time (10:27 GMT).
This mission’s main objective is to become the first to collect samples from the far side of the Moon, a barely explored region that has aroused great interest in the international scientific community.
The Chang’e 6 lunar mission, destined for the Apollo Basin within the Aitken-South Pole Basin, a zone of unique geological features, could shed light on the origins and evolution of our natural satellite.
The probe is made up of four components: an orbiter, a lunar lander, an elevator and a reentry module.
The elevator will play a crucial role in transporting lunar samples collected by the lander to the lunar orbiter.
The samples will be transferred to the reentry module on the orbiter, which will take them back to Earth for analysis in laboratories.
With an estimated duration of 53 days, this mission reaffirms China in the select group of countries that have managed to collect lunar samples, following in the footsteps of the United States and the former Soviet Union.
The mission will carry four payloads developed through international cooperation, with scientific instruments from France, Italy and the European Space Agency on board the Chang’e 6 lunar lander, while a small satellite from Pakistan will be on board the orbiter.
China’s most recent lunar probe, Chang’e 5, traveled to the satellite in 2020 and collected 1,731 grams of soil samples.
The Chang’e program, named after a goddess from Chinese legends believed to live 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 landing of Chang’e 4 on the far side of the Moon in January 2019, an achievement that no other country had achieved to date. .
