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Chang'e 6 mission could explore new lunar areas
By ZHAO LEI | chinadaily.com.cn
Updated: Dec 18, 2020
Photo taken by the rover Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2) on Jan 11, 2019 shows the lander of the Chang'e-4 probe. [Photo/Xinhua/China National Space Administration]
China plans to use the Chang'e 6 mission to collect samples from the moon's south pole or even the celestial body's far side, a key figure in the nation's lunar exploration program said.
Wu Yanhua, deputy head of the China National Space Administration, told China Daily after a Thursday news conference in Beijing project managers' current plan calls for the Chang'e 6 robotic probe to land on the lunar south pole.
"But if the Queqiao relay satellite still functions well by the time we launch Chang'e 6, we may also consider sending it to the far side to seize some samples there," he said. "This is because there has never been a sample return mission to the far side. If we do so, we will be able to bring rocks and soil from there, which will be very meaningful to scientists around the world."
The official said deploying a sample return mission to the moon's far side, which eternally faces away from the Earth, will incur some risks, but it will be worth it for the sake of exploration of the unknown.
In December 2018, China launched its fourth lunar probe, Chang'e 4, toward the far side. The spacecraft made a soft landing in January 2019 on the Von Karman crater in the South Pole–Aitken basin of the far side, inaugurating mankind's first close observation of the little-known "dark side of the moon".
Chang'e 4, which remains operational, has been enabling scientists to discover new things about the moon and deepen their knowledge about the early histories of the extraterrestrial body, as well as the solar system. The mission's Yutu 2 rover, the second of its kind made by China and the world's first to reach the far side, has become the second-longest operational rover on the moon.
Queqiao, the satellite responsible for relaying signals between Chang'e 4 and ground control, was launched in May 2018.
Wu also mentioned the Chang'e 7 and 8 missions at the news conference, saying among their many goals, a major one will be to explore the technological feasibility of international cooperation on a robotic scientific research outpost on the moon.
By ZHAO LEI | chinadaily.com.cn
Updated: Dec 18, 2020
China plans to use the Chang'e 6 mission to collect samples from the moon's south pole or even the celestial body's far side, a key figure in the nation's lunar exploration program said.
Wu Yanhua, deputy head of the China National Space Administration, told China Daily after a Thursday news conference in Beijing project managers' current plan calls for the Chang'e 6 robotic probe to land on the lunar south pole.
"But if the Queqiao relay satellite still functions well by the time we launch Chang'e 6, we may also consider sending it to the far side to seize some samples there," he said. "This is because there has never been a sample return mission to the far side. If we do so, we will be able to bring rocks and soil from there, which will be very meaningful to scientists around the world."
The official said deploying a sample return mission to the moon's far side, which eternally faces away from the Earth, will incur some risks, but it will be worth it for the sake of exploration of the unknown.
In December 2018, China launched its fourth lunar probe, Chang'e 4, toward the far side. The spacecraft made a soft landing in January 2019 on the Von Karman crater in the South Pole–Aitken basin of the far side, inaugurating mankind's first close observation of the little-known "dark side of the moon".
Chang'e 4, which remains operational, has been enabling scientists to discover new things about the moon and deepen their knowledge about the early histories of the extraterrestrial body, as well as the solar system. The mission's Yutu 2 rover, the second of its kind made by China and the world's first to reach the far side, has become the second-longest operational rover on the moon.
Queqiao, the satellite responsible for relaying signals between Chang'e 4 and ground control, was launched in May 2018.
Wu also mentioned the Chang'e 7 and 8 missions at the news conference, saying among their many goals, a major one will be to explore the technological feasibility of international cooperation on a robotic scientific research outpost on the moon.
