As reported by the NASA in Spanishhe european team which works with the NILS instrument (Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface) confirmed the success of this scientific mission who flew to the far side of the Moon aboard the Chinese spacecraft Chang’e-6.
The discovery of a new plasma component on the surface of the Moon opens a new window for space physics and for human and robotic missions in an era of renewed lunar exploration.
Detecting negative ions on the Moon
The first negative ion detector on the Moon It operated intermittently to collect more than three hours of data, three times more than what the science teams needed for the success of the mission. This was the first time that ESA produced scientific data on the lunar surface.
The solar wind is a constant flow of radiation and particles from the Sun. The Earth’s magnetic field acts as a shield. Instead, the Moon has no magnetic field and its atmosphere, called the exosphere, is very tenuous. When the solar wind hits the Moon, the surface reacts and lifts secondary particles.
These particles can have a positive or negative charge., or not have any load. Although positively charged particles had been measured from orbit before, measuring negative particles was a challenge.
Negative ions have a short life and cannot reach orbit. Therefore, European scientists needed to operate their instrument near the lunar surface, an unprecedented mission for a particle detector.
“These observations on the Moon will help us better understand the surface environment and act as a reference point for exploring negative ion populations on other airless bodies in the Solar System, from planets to asteroids and other moons.“, said Martin Wieserprincipal investigator of the NILS at the IRF.
A scientific team is already working on high-level research publications to share the findings. These measurements and the instrumentation used may have applications for future investigations of the lunar environment.
Chang’e-6 landed successfully in a huge crater on the far side of the Moon known as the Aitken-South Pole basin. June 1, 2024 at 22:23 GMT.
The NILS team analyzed the parameters of landing position (coordinates 153.99°W, 41.64°S), attitude, Sun angle and temperatures and requested to activate the instrument about four hours after landing.
NILS began collecting scientific data 280 minutes after landing. The first data collection period lasted 23 minutes, until the instrument dropped voltage again. A few more rounds of data collection followed between communications blackouts and restarts.
“We were alternating between short bursts of full power and long cooldown periods because the instrument was getting hot. The fact that it stayed within its thermal design limits and managed to recover in extreme heat conditions is a testament to the quality of the work done by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics.“says Neil.
NILS was shut down at 14:20 GMT on June 3, 2024.
European ground stations are supporting the Chang’e-6 mission on their way to the Moon and back. Shortly after launch from China on May 3, 2024, ESA’s Kourou station in French Guiana tracked the spacecraft for several hours to confirm its orbit.
Around June 25, ESA will capture signals from the spacecraft as it returns to Earth loaded with lunar samples using the Maspalomas station, operated by the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA) in Gran Canaria, Spain.
This entry was published in News on 07 Jun 2024 by Francisco Martín León
