China\u2019s Chang\u2019e-6 lunar module returned to Earth Tuesday, successfully completing its historic mission to collect the first ever samples from the far side of the moon in a major step forward for the country\u2019s ambitious space program. <\/p>\n
The reentry module \u201csuccessfully landed\u201d in a designated zone in China\u2019s northern Inner Mongolia region just after 2 p.m. local time, according to state broadcaster CCTV. A livestream carried by CCTV showed the module touching down via parachute to a round of applause in the mission control room. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Chang\u2019e-6 lunar exploration mission has been a complete success,\u201d said Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), from the control room. <\/p>\n
A search team located the module minutes after its landing, according to CCTV. The livestream showed a worker carrying out checks on the module, which lay on grassland beside a Chinese flag. <\/p>\n
The successful mission is a key milestone in China\u2019s \u201ceternal dream\u201d \u2013 as articulated by Chinese leader Xi Jinping \u2013 to establish the country as a dominant space power and comes as a number of countries, including the United States, also ramp up their own lunar exploration programs. <\/p>\n
In a congratulatory message Tuesday, Xi hailed the mission as \u201canother landmark achievement in building a strong country in space, and science and technology.\u201d <\/p>\n
Beijing plans to send astronauts to the moon by 2030 and build a research base at the lunar south pole \u2013 a region believed to contain water ice, where the US also hopes to establish a base. <\/p>\n
The Chang\u2019e-6 probe is expected to have returned to Earth with up to 2 kilograms of moon dust and rocks from the lunar far side, which will be analyzed by researchers in China before being opened for access by international scientists, according to the CNSA. <\/p>\n
Results from the analysis of the samples could help scientists peer back into the evolution of the moon, the Earth and the solar system \u2013 while also aiding China\u2019s aim to utilize resources on the moon to further its exploration there, experts say. <\/p>\n
The samples were collected using a drill and robotic arm from a location within the sprawling South Pole-Aitken basin, an impact crater formed some 4 billion years ago on the moon\u2019s far side, which is never visible to Earth. <\/p>\n
An ascender then lifted them off the lunar surface and transferred them in lunar orbit to a re-entry vehicle, which then traveled back to Earth after separating from its lunar orbiter. <\/p>\n
The progress of Chang\u2019e-6 \u2013 China\u2019s most technically complex mission to date \u2013 has been followed with intense interest within the country since its launch on May 3. <\/p>\n
Earlier this month, images of the lunar lander displaying the Chinese flag and appearing to have drilled the character \u201czhong\u201d \u2013 shorthand for China \u2013 on the lunar surface went viral on Chinese social media. <\/p>\n
The far side of the moon has been a point of fascination for scientists since they first peered at it in grainy, black and white images captured by the Soviet Union\u2019s Luna 3 spacecraft in 1959 \u2013 and realized how different it was from the side facing Earth. <\/p>\n
Absent were the lunar maria, or large, dark plains of cooled lava that pockmark much of the moon\u2019s near side. Instead, the far side appeared to show a record of impact \u2014 covered in craters of different sizes and ages. <\/p>\n
Decades later, and some five years since the Chang\u2019e-4 mission made China the first and only country to complete a soft landing on the far side, scientists both from China and around the world have high hopes for the information that can be gleaned from the samples. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a gold mine \u2026 a treasure chest,\u201d said James Head, a professor of planetary geosciences at Brown University, who together with European scientists, collaborated with Chinese scientists analyzing samples from the Chang\u2019e-5 mission that returned near-side samples. \u201cInternational scientists are totally excited about the mission,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Head pointed to the destruction of many clues of evolutionary history due to the shifting of the Earth\u2019s plate tectonics and erosion that has obscured the planet\u2019s first several billion years, including the period when life emerged. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe moon is really the cornerstone for understanding that because its surface does not have plate tectonics \u2013 it\u2019s actually a frozen record of what it was like in our early solar system,\u201d he said, adding that understanding the moon\u2019s makeup can not only aid our understanding of the past but future exploration of the solar system. <\/p>\n
While the stated focus of the Chang\u2019e-6 mission is these broader scientific questions, experts say analysis of the composition and physical properties of the samples could also help advance efforts to learn how to use resources on the moon for future lunar and space exploration. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe (Chang\u2019e-6) mission is focused on answering specific scientific questions, but the lunar soils collected from the mission can support future resource utilization,\u201d said Yuqi Qian, a planetary geologist at the University of Hong Kong. <\/p>\n
Lunar soil could be used for 3-D printing to produce bricks for construction of research bases on the moon, while some scientists were already working on finding more economical and practical technologies to extract gases like Helium-3, oxygen and hydrogen from the soil, which could support further lunar exploration, he said. <\/p>\n
Once they receive the samples, Chinese scientists are expected to share data and carry out joint research with international partners, before Beijing later opens the samples for access by international teams, according to statements from CNSA officials. <\/p>\n
International teams had to wait roughly three years to apply for access to samples from the Chang\u2019e-5 mission, but some of the earliest published research on those samples was from teams of Chinese and international scientists. <\/p>\n
Chang\u2019e-6 \u2013 the sixth of eight scheduled missions in the Chang\u2019e series \u2013 is widely seen as an important step forward for China\u2019s aim to put astronauts on the moon in the coming years. <\/p>\n
\u201cEach step in the sample return mission process is exactly what you need to do to land humans on the moon and return,\u201d Head said. \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be lost on anyone that while, on one hand, this is a scientific mission, the command and control aspects (are) exactly what you need for lunar human exploration as well as things like Mars sample return.\u201d <\/p>\n
China\u2019s ambitions to send astronauts to the moon come as the US targets launching a crewed \u201cArtemis\u201d mission as early as 2026 \u2013 in what would be America\u2019s first such attempt in more than 50 years. <\/p>\n
NASA chief Bill Nelson has appeared to point to China\u2019s pace as a driver in US progress, telling lawmakers in April that the two countries were \u201cin effect \u2026 in a race.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern is that they (get to the south pole) first and then say, \u2018this is our area, you stay out,\u2019 because the south pole of the moon is an important part \u2026 We think that there is water there and if there\u2019s water, then there\u2019s rocket fuel,\u201d Nelson said. <\/p>\n
China has sought to dispel concerns about its ambitions, reiterating its position that space exploration should \u201cbenefit all mankind\u201d and actively recruiting country partners for its planned international lunar research station. <\/p>\n
China and the US are not alone in eyeing the national prestige, potential scientific benefits, access to resources and further deep space exploration that successful moon missions could bring. <\/p>\n
Last year, India landed its first spacecraft on the moon, while Russia\u2019s first lunar mission in decades ended in failure when its Luna 25 probe crashed into the moon\u2019s surface. <\/p>\n
In January, Japan became the fifth country to land a spacecraft on the moon, though its Moon Sniper lander faced power issues due to an incorrect landing angle. The following month, IM-1, a NASA-funded mission designed by Texas-based private firm Intuitive Machines, touched down close to the lunar south pole. <\/p>\n
China is scheduled to launch its Chang\u2019e-7 mission to the lunar south pole region in 2026, while Chang\u2019e-8 will be launched in 2028 to carry out tests aimed at utilization of lunar resources in preparation for the lunar research station, Chinese space authorities said earlier this year. <\/p>\n
This story has been updated with additional developments.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" China\u2019s Chang\u2019e-6 lunar module returned to Earth Tuesday, successfully completing its historic mission to collect the first ever samples from the far side of the moon in a major step forward for the country\u2019s ambitious space program. The reentry module \u201csuccessfully landed\u201d in a designated zone in China\u2019s northern Inner Mongolia region just after 2 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4387","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaltradecenter.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}