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Samples from the far side of the Moon are now en route back to Earth. China’s Chang’e-6 mission landed on the Moon over the weekend, and it has since collected a sample of lunar regolith. That material began its journey to Earth late yesterday with the successful departure of Chang’e-6’s ascent vehicle. This will mark the first time samples from this region of the Moon have been returned to Earth.
Chang’e-6 left Earth on May 3, departing from China’s Wenchang spaceport. Just a few days later, it reached lunar orbit. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) spent several weeks conducting orbital science and preparing for the historic landing. The 3.2-ton lander reached the Moon on June 1, setting down in Apollo Crater, which is part of the South Pole-Aitken basin, where more missions are expected to land in the coming years.
The lander was outfitted with a drill and scoop designed to load as much as two kilograms of lunar material into the sample container. That container is in the ascent vehicle, which you can see atop the rest of the lander in the image above. On the evening of June 3, the CNSA confirmed its ascent vehicle left the surface with its precious payload secured.
The ascent vehicle is currently raising its orbit around the Moon to rendezvous with the mission’s service module. Once it has been captured by the service module, a robotic system will remove the sample container from the ascent vehicle. With that done, the ascent vehicle will be released to drift off into the void. The service module will remain in orbit for several more weeks until the planned departure on June 20-21. The spacecraft will release a reentry module on June 25 that will deliver the sample container to Inner Mongolia, where it will be retrieved by the CNSA.
Scientists are anxious to examine the materials from the South Pole-Aitken basin. This massive crater is the oldest and deepest basin on the Moon’s surface. The samples could contain material from deep in the Moon’s crust. Further study of the South Pole-Aitken may help scientists determine why the near and far sides of the Moon have such different properties and how planets and Moons formed in the early solar system.
This mission is set to make history as China’s second lunar sample return and the first to return samples from the Moon’s far side, but it’s also a play for the future of China’s space program. China is working toward its goal of landing humans on the Moon by 2030, and the technologies in use for Chang’e-6 will help inform the design of crewed landings. China also hopes to launch the Tianwen-3 Mars sample return around 2030, and the performance of the Chang’e-6 sample collection will no doubt affect the Mars mission.