China launches Chang'e 6 sample-return mission to moon's far side
China is headed back to the moon's mysterious far side — and this time, the nation will bring back some souvenirs.
The robotic Chang'e 6 mission launched today (May 3) at 5:27 a.m. EDT (0927 GMT; 5:27 p.m. Beijing time), riding a Long March 5 rocket off a pad at the Wenchang Space Launch Site, in southern China's Hainan province.
If all goes according to plan, Chang'e 6 will touch down on the moon's far side, scoop up some samples and rocket them back to Earth — something that's never been done before. Indeed, just one mission has ever soft-landed on the lunar far side: Chang'e 4, which put a lander-rover duo down in January 2019.
China’s Chang’e-6 is carrying a surprise rover to the moon
The Chang'e-6 spacecraft stack showing, for the first time, an apparent lunar rover attached to the mission lander. Credit: CAST
China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft appears to carry a previously undisclosed lunar rover as part of the mission’s far side exploration plans. Chang’e-6 launched on a Long March 5 rocket from Wenchang early May 3. The mission will attempt to bring back to Earth the first ever samples from the lunar far side.
China had disclosed objectives, a landing site and science payloads for the mission ahead of launch. However, following launch, the spacecraft’s maker, the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), revealed an image showing a rover attached to the mission lander. Chang’e-6 is a backup to the 2020 Chang’e-5 nearside sample return mission. With that mission successful, Chang’e-6 has been repurposed for a more ambitious lunar far side sampling mission.
A similar process saw the backup Chang’e-4 mission land in Von Kármán crater on the lunar far side, following the success of the Chang’e-3 lander and rover mission. The Chang’e-6 mission includes new, international payloads—from France, Sweden, Italy, and a Pakistani cubesat—and now an additional rover, something not carried by Chang’e-5.
Chang'e-6 is just the tip of China's ambitions for the Solar System
China's Chang'e-6 mission is intended to bring back lunar samples but is also a stepping stone to much more ambitious space exploration
China launched one of its most ambitious missions so far on 3 May, sending a stack of four spacecraft towards the Moon. The aim is to collect the first samples from the lunar far side and deliver them safely to Earth, potentially bringing back new insights into our nearest neighbour, our own planet, and the early history of the Solar System. To do this, the quartet will need to perform an intricate cosmic dance.
The Chang'e-6 spacecraft spent roughly 4.5-days on its voyage to the Moon. Once in orbit around the Moon, a lander separated from the orbiter and targeted a landing area within Apollo crater on the far side of the satellite, where it is expected to land in early June. As this far side of the Moon never faces Earth, operations and communications with Earth will be facilitated by Queqiao-2, a communications relay satellite launched by China in March.
The lander will use a scoop and a drill to collect surface and subsurface materials. These will be blasted into lunar orbit by an ascender, which will then be tasked with catching up with the orbiter and handing over its precious cargo. A precise rendezvous and docking between orbiter and ascender will need to be affected while travelling at just over a mile per second (1.68km per second). This will need to be automated, due to the light-time delay due to their distance from ground stations on Earth.
China's Chang'e 6 probe to the moon's far side has a big lunar mystery to solve
Having launched on May 3, Chang'e-6 is expected to land in early June within the Apollo double ring impact basin, which lies inside the even larger South Pole–Aitken basin (SPA). The immense SPA is the largest impact feature of its kind in the solar system, spanning 2,400 by 2,050 kilometers (1,490 by 1,270 miles) in area; it was formed some 4.3 billion years ago, which is very early in the history of the solar system. Though Apollo is younger, it is also the largest impact site to be superimposed on the SPA. Apollo sports a double-ringed structure, with its inner ring of mountain peaks having a diameter of 247 kilometers (153 miles) and an outer ring about 492 kilometers (305 miles) across.
As the first sample-return mission to the far side, Chang'e-6 aims to bring back to Earth about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of precious lunar material. The far side is a relatively unknown place; its mystery is also enhanced by the fact that we cannot see it from Earth. It was only photographed for the first time by the Soviet Luna 3 spacecraft in 1959. And with this photograph in hand, scientists around the world were amazed to learn how different looking the far side of the moon is in comparison to the side we're familiar with. While both the near and far side sport a multitude of craters, the near side also displays vast, volcanic plains called lunar maria, which create impressions like the "man in the moon" shape and cover something like 31% of the whole near-side area.
Chang'e 6
The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program is designed to be conducted in four[6] phases of incremental technological advancement:
- The goal of the first phase was to reach lunar orbit. This was completed by Chang'e 1 in 2007 and by Chang'e 2 in 2010.
- The second phase sought to land and rove on the Moon, a feat that was accomplished by Chang'e 3 in 2013 and by Chang'e 4 in 2019.
- The third phase involves the collection of lunar samples and sending them to Earth, first completed by Chang'e 5 in 2020 and planned for Chang'e 6.
- The fourth phase consists of the development of a robotic research station near the Moon's south pole.[6][7][8] The program aims to facilitate crewed lunar landings in the 2030s and possibly build a crewed outpost near the lunar south pole.
China eyes May 2024 launch for 1st-ever lunar sample-return mission to moon's far side
An illustration of China's Chang'e 3 lunar lander on the moon's surface. (Image credit: CNSA/CLEP)
Engineers working on China's Chang'e-6 mission have foregone family reunions over the Lunar New Year to help get the spacecraft ready for launch.
The components of the complex Chang'e-6 moon sample return mission arrived at Wenchang spaceport on Hainan island in early January. There, a team of engineers and researchers, many with extensive experience from the 2020 Chang'e-5 mission, is intensively testing and adjusting the equipment, according to a China Central Television (CCTV) report.
The mission will make the first ever attempt at collecting material from the far side of the moon and deliver it to Earth for analysis. Launch is planned for around May. Chang'e-6 is expected to be a 53-day-long mission. The mission lander will seek to touch down in Apollo basin on the far side of the moon and collect up to 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of lunar materials using a scoop and a drill.
China's Chang'e-6 scheduled for launch in first half of 2024
China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe is scheduled for launch in the first half of this year, the China National Space Administration said Wednesday.
Components for the Chang'e-6 lunar probe have been transported to the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in the southern province of Hainan, and pre-launch tests will be carried out as scheduled, the agency said. Currently, the facilities at the launch site are in good condition and preparatory work is underway as planned, it added.
The Chang'e-6 is set to collect samples from the far side of the moon, marking a mission that will be the first of its kind in human history. The mission is poised to make breakthroughs in key technologies, such as automatic sample collection, take-off and ascent from the far side of the moon. Meanwhile, the probe will carry out scientific exploration of the landing zone.
China’s Chang’e-6 probe arrives at spaceport for first-ever lunar far side sample mission
The far side of the moon and distant Earth, imaged by the Chang’e-5 T1 mission service module. Credit: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Components for China’s Chang’e-6 lunar far side sample return mission spacecraft arrived at Wenchang spaceport Wednesday.
The delivery is part of preparations to launch a stack of four spacecraft to land on the far side of the moon, collect samples and deliver them to Earth. The 8,200-kilogram probe will launch on a Long March 5 rocket around May this year. The spacecraft components were delivered to Hainan island via Antonov An-124 and Xi’an Y-20 transport planes, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced Jan. 10. These were then transferred to Wenchang Satellite Launch Center. Assembly and testing will begin in the near future.
CNSA stated the mission will launch within the first half of 2024. Earlier indications suggest the Chang’e-6 will launch around May. Chang’e-6 is a follow up to the 2020 Chang’e-5 mission which collected 1,731 grams of lunar material from Oceanus Procellarum on the near side of the moon.
Chang'e 6
Chang'e 6 (Chinese: 嫦娥六号; pinyin: Cháng'é liùhào) is a planned robotic Chinese lunar exploration mission that has been officially announced for the first half of 2024 and is expected to launch around May 2024. It will attempt China's second sample return mission. The mission will attempt to obtain the first-ever soil and rock samples from the lunar far side and return it to the Earth; the primary phase of the mission is expected to last about 53 days. Like its predecessors, the spacecraft is named after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e.
The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program is designed to be conducted in four phases of incremental technological advancement: The goal of the first phase is to reach lunar orbit, this was completed by Chang'e 1 in 2007 and by Chang'e 2 in 2010. The second phase seeks to land and rove on the Moon, a feat that was accomplished by Chang'e 3 in 2013 and by Chang'e 4 in 2019. The third phase involves the collection of lunar samples and sending them to Earth, first completed by Chang'e 5 in 2020 and planned for the Chang'e 6 mission. The fourth phase consists of the development of a robotic research station near the Moon's south pole. The program aims to facilitate crewed lunar landings in the 2030s and possibly build a crewed outpost near the lunar south pole.
Unlike the Chang'e 5 mission which returned in excess of 1.73 kilograms of material from the northern hemisphere of the lunar near side, the Chang'e 6 mission will attempt to land and return material from the southern hemisphere of the lunar far side. Specifically, the landing segment of the Chang'e 6 mission will target the southern portion of the Apollo crater which itself lies within the larger South Pole-Aitkin (SPA) impact basin on the lunar far side; it is hoped that samples collected from the target area may include lunar mantle material ejected by the original impact that created the SPA basin. The mission's lander will endeavor to collect up to two kilograms of lunar far-side material including surface soil and rocks (using a scoop) and subsurface samples (using a drill).
Chang’e 6 Mission to Include International Scientific Instruments
Photo screens from a simulated animation showing the Chang’e-6 probe. [Photo/VCG]
The planned launch of China’s Chang’e 6 lunar probe is drawing international interest as it sets to embark on a groundbreaking mission to collect samples from the moon’s far side. Additionally, this mission will be distinguished by the inclusion of three European scientific instruments, which marks a significant step in international space cooperation.
The Chang’e 6 mission is not just a milestone for China but also for European space science. Among the payloads, the mission will carry:
- A radon measurement device from France to study lunar dust dynamics.
- An Italian laser retroreflector for precise lander range-finding.
- A Swedish negative ion detector, marking its first deployment beyond Earth.
Over 20 international proposals vied for the chance to be part of the Chang’e 6 mission. The selected instruments from France, Italy, and Sweden are set to explore the enigmatic lunar far side, which has remained largely a mystery until recently. Experts like Yang Yuguang emphasize the importance of international collaboration in space missions to enhance their scientific yield. The participation of global scientists, especially in significant missions like Chang’e 6, is highly sought after and beneficial for all parties involved. China’s history of space cooperation with Europe has yielded successful outcomes, such as the Tianwen 1 Mars mission data relay. The Chang’e 6 provides another platform for advancing this collaborative relationship, particularly in lunar research. The Chang’e 6, aboard a Long March 5 rocket, is scheduled for launch from Hainan’s Wenchang Space Launch Center soon. It aims to land in the South Pole-Aitken Basin and continue the exploratory work initiated by its predecessor, Chang’e 5.
China to debut new Long March rockets in 2024
A Long March 2D rocket lifts off from Xichang spaceport carrying the Yaogan 39 (04) remote sensing satellites on Oct. 23, 2023. (Image credit: Ourspace)
China will debut several new Long March rockets this year to boost its options for space launches. Two major rocket-making academies under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Science (CASC) are set to give test flights to new rockets.
The Long March 6C is a new variant of the existing Long March 6A, which is China's only rocket using a liquid propellant core with solid-fueled side boosters. The rocket will launch from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China at some point during the first half of the year. "The Long March 6C is about 43 meters [141 feet] long. With its three liquid oxygen-kerosene engines, it will be used in launch missions with a mass of 2,000 kilograms [4,400 pounds], which will help it enhance its capacity for high-frequency launch missions," Yu Yansheng, a rocket expert from the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), under CASC, told China Central Television (CCTV).
SAST is also preparing to debut another, more powerful rocket — the Long March 12. The two-stage, kerosene-fueled Long March 12 will be capable of carrying 22,040 pounds (10,000 kg) of payload to low Earth orbit or 13,200 pounds (6,000 kg) to sun-synchronous orbit, boosting China's options for launching satellite constellations. The Long March 12 will launch from a new commercial launch site at Wenchang, near China's national coastal Wenchang spaceport. It will be China's first launch vehicle with a diameter of 12.4 feet (3.8 m). This means it can be transported over land by rail. China's largest-diameter rocket, the Long March 5, at 16.4 feet (5.0 m), needs to be transported by sea.
China Is Now a Major Space Power
The Long March-5B Y4 carrier rocket, carrying the space lab module Mengtian, blasts off from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in south China's Hainan Province.PHOTOGRAPH: HU ZHIXUAN/XINHUA/GETTY IMAGES
THE SIZE OF the neighborhood in low Earth orbit has now officially doubled. On October 31, China launched the final piece of its new Tiangong space station, completing its construction. The 18-meter lab module, named Mengtian (meaning “dreaming of the heavens”), enables a range of scientific experiments and now allows the station to accommodate up to six people at a time. It currently hosts commander Chen Dong and two other astronauts.
It’s a significant accomplishment for China’s rapidly growing space program, which plans to build a base on the moon, deploy a lunar rover, and send new landers and orbiters to Mars. It’s also the first long-term neighbor the International Space Station has had since Russia’s Mir station was deorbited in 2001. (China flew two Tiangong experimental prototypes between 2011 and 2019, but they are no longer orbiting.) “This is important for the Chinese space program. The International Space Station won’t run for much longer. You may well end up with only one orbiting space station—the Chinese one,” says Fabio Tronchetti, a space law professor at Beihang University in Beijing and the University of Mississippi.
The Chinese space program plans to have Tiangong last for 10 to 15 years, with the possibility of extending its lifespan, Tronchetti says. The much larger ISS, operated by the United States, the European Space Agency, Russia, and other partners, could be retired as soon as 2030—that’s the end date the Biden administration gave it after extending its mission last year. (Earlier this year, Russia threatened to pull out by 2024, thanks to the ongoing geopolitical tensions that followed its invasion of Ukraine. But space analysts now expect Russia to continue its support until 2030 as well.)
China Is Winning the Space Race
China’s history of exploration and commercialization of space began around the same time the USSR and the USA were locked in their infamous Space Race. It was after the first US moon landing that China, then under Mao Zedong, moved from working solely on launching ballistic missiles, to working on a program to ultimately launch a manned crew in China’s effort not to be left behind. But no one noticed as the focus was on the US vs. USSR Cold War competition.
In the 1970s, the Chinese government developed a series of rockets called the Long March 1. It was with this series that China successfully launched its first in a series of satellites into orbit. Overall, the series was widely considered successful. Project 714, adopted in 1971, was to be the first Chinese manned launch into space, but the project was canceled due to political turmoil. After the denouncement of the Cultural Revolution, most space programs in China halted altogether. While China continued development on the Long March rocket series and other satellite missions through the 80’s and 90’s, they were largely unsuccessful.
That all changed in 2003 when China became the third nation in the world to send a successful, crewed rocket into space aboard the Shenzhou 5 and return them safely to Earth. They have not stopped doing so since and Chinese space missions have taken off like, well, a rocket. In 2011, China launched their first space station, the Tiangong 1. While it was compatible with the International Space Station, though the Chinese government was barred from taking part in the ISS missions over concerns that their space program had ties to their military, a U.S. fears that continue to this day to overshadow China’s program and prevents meaningful cooperative efforts. Two crewed rockets launched in 2011 and 2012 successfully docked with Tiangong 1. When Tiangong 1 was retired in 2016 (and re-entered Earth’s atmosphere in 2018), China launched Tiangong 2. The first manned crew boarded in the same year and it has been manned ever since.
What's behind China's space programme expansion
China is a relative late-bloomer when it comes to the world of space exploration. But just 15 years after it first sent an astronaut into orbit, China has become the first country to successfully land a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the Moon.
And in the next decades it plans not only to build a new space station, but also a base on the Moon and conduct missions to Mars. Importantly, Xi Jinping, the country's most powerful leader since Chairman Mao, has thrown his support behind the "space dream" - and with it billions in investment. Chinese state media, meanwhile, have cast the "space dream" as one step in the path to "national rejuvenation".
So why are President Xi and China so keen to make their mark in space - and what does it mean for the rest of the world? According to Prof Keith Hayward, a fellow of the UK's Royal Aeronautical Society, China is being driven by the same motivations as the US, Russia and others:
- First, demand from the military, without which "you would not have had half the money going in".
- Second, as "a good way to show off". "You could say that this is the space Silk Road - it demonstrates China is a force to be reckoned with," Prof Hayward notes.
- Third, hitherto untapped resources which have the potential to make whoever finds them wealthy.
Chinese space program
Lunar Lander on 144 Dec 2013 & Martian Lander on 6 Jun 2021
The space program of the People's Republic of China is about the activities in outer space conducted and directed by the People's Republic of China. The roots of the Chinese space program trace back to the 1950s, when, with the help of the newly allied Soviet Union, China began development of its first ballistic missile and rocket programs in response to the perceived American (and, later, Soviet) threats. Driven by the successes of Soviet Sputnik 1 and American Explorer 1 satellite launches in 1957 and 1958 respectively, China would launch its first satellite, Dong Fang Hong 1 in April 1970 aboard a Long March 1 rocket, making it the fifth nation to place a satellite in orbit.
China has one of the most active space programs in the world. With space launch capability provided by the Long March rocket family and four spaceports (Jiuquan, Taiyuan, Xichang, Wenchang) within its border, China conducts either the highest or the second highest number of orbital launches each year. It operates a satellite fleet consisting of a large number of communications, navigation, remote sensing and scientific research satellites. The scope of its activities has expanded from low Earth orbit to the Moon and Mars. China is one of the three countries, alongside the United States and Russia, with independent human spaceflight capability.
Currently, most of the space activities carried out by China are managed by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force, which directs the astronaut corps and the Chinese Deep Space Network. Major programs include China Manned Space Program, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, Gaofen Observation and Planetary Exploration of China. In recent years, China has conducted several missions, including Chang'e-3, Chang'e-4, Chang'e-5, Tianwen-1 and Tiangong space station.
Shenzhou (spacecraft)
Shenzhou consists of three modules: a forward orbital module (轨道舱), a reentry module (返回舱) in the middle, and an aft service module (推进舱)
Shenzhou (Chinese: 神舟; pinyin: Shénzhōu, /ˈʃɛnˈdʒoʊ/; see § Etymology) is a spacecraft developed and operated by China to support its crewed spaceflight program, China Manned Space Program. Its design resembles the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, but it is larger in size. The first launch was on 19 November 1999 and the first crewed launch was on 15 October 2003. In March 2005, an asteroid was named 8256 Shenzhou in honour of the spacecraft.
The literal meaning of the native name 神舟 (p: Shénzhōu; /ˈʃɛnˈdʒoʊ/) is "the Divine vessel [on the Heavenly River]", to which Heavenly River (天河) means the Milky Way in Classical Chinese. 神舟 is a pun and neologism that plays on the poetic word referring to China, 神州, meaning Divine realm, which bears the same pronunciation. For further information, refer to Chinese theology, Chinese astronomy and names of China.
Shenzhou consists of three modules: a forward orbital module (轨道舱), a reentry module (返回舱) in the middle, and an aft service module (推进舱). This division is based on the principle of minimizing the amount of material to be returned to Earth. Anything placed in the orbital or service modules does not require heat shielding, increasing the space available in the spacecraft without increasing weight as much as it would if those modules were also able to withstand reentry. The Shenzhou spacecrafts are:
Long March (rocket family)
Comparison of Long March rockets
The Long March series has performed more than 350 launches, including missions to low-Earth orbit, sun-synchronous orbit, geostationary transfer orbit, and Earth-moon transfer orbit. The new-generation carrier rockets, Long March 5, Long March 6, Long March 7, Long March 11, and Long March 8, have made their maiden flights. Among them, the Long March 5 has a low-Earth orbit carrying capacity of 25,000 kilograms, and a geosynchronous transfer orbit carrying capacity of 14,000 kilograms. The Long March rockets have subsequently maintained an excellent reliability record. Since 2010, Long March launches have made up 15–25% of all space launches globally. Growing domestic demand has maintained a healthy manifest. International deals have been secured through a package deal that bundles the launch with a Chinese satellite, circumventing the United States embargo.
The Long March rockets are organized into several series (There is no Long March 10):
related: List of Long March launches
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