On June 25, China's Chang'e-6 lunar module was successfully returned to the northern Chinese region of Inner Mongolia at 2:07 p.m. local time. The re-entry of the capsule carrying samples from the far side of the moon marks the successful completion of the mission.
This is the first time in history that humans have managed to collect samples from the far and less explored region of the Moon, also known as the dark side. The samples (rock and soil) collected by the probe from a huge crater, the South Pole-Aitken Basin, were sent to Beijing for further analysis. Scientists believe that these samples will help in understanding the history of the Moon.
Earlier, many space exploration missions have failed due to issues related to communication and unpredictability, this is where the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) also successfully landed the Chandrayaan-3 mission in August 2023.
The Chang'e-6 mission began its journey from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan, China on May 3. It landed on the Moon on June 2, spent 13 days in lunar orbit and landed back on Earth on June 25, ending its 53-day exploration.
Wang Qiong, deputy chief designer of the Chang'e-6 mission, wrote, “After the lunar samples are delivered to the laboratory, we will first open the sample container, take out the samples, and separate the samples collected on the lunar surface from those drilled below the surface. A part of the samples will be stored permanently, while another part will be stored in a separate location as a backup in case of disasters. Then we will prepare the remaining part, and distribute them to scientists from China and foreign countries in accordance with lunar sample management regulations.”
The Chang'e-6 mission also carried international payloads from the European Space Agency (ESA), France, Italy and Pakistan.
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First uploaded: 26-06-2024 at 12:00 IST