China’s space module, Chang’e-6 returned to Earth this Tuesday after its trip to the mysterious far side of the Moonwhere the objective was to collect samples of its surface.
According to CNN, The ship landed in an area in Inner Mongolia, where she was later rescued by personnel from the China National Space Administration (CNSA). “The Chang’e-6 lunar exploration mission It has been a complete success“said Zhang Kejian, head of the organization.
Let us remember that, At the beginning of June, the space module successfully landed on the far side of the Moonwhere he stayed for a brief period to collect fragments of lunar dust and rocks, which will be studied by scientists.
She is serious the first time that a space mission collects samples from this unknown areawhich is not possible to see from Earth due to the orbit and rotation of the satellite.
The CNSA shared the moment when the spacecraft deployed its parachute and landed in a controlled manner in Mongolian territory.
What will happen to the Chang’e-6 samples?
This mission was carried out within the framework of a boom in lunar exploration initiatives, since countries plan to install a base on the satellite within the coming decades.
In fact, last year India landed for the first time on the south pole of the Moon, while NASA is preparing the Artemis II missionto send humans to orbit it and a subsequent lunar landing with Artemis III.
China, for its part, collected these samples to analyze them and thus learn more about lunar resourcesthe evolution of the satellite and doing science that serves as a reference for other countries and their future missions.
It is expected that Chang’e-6, which has been China’s most complex space mission to date, will collect at least 2 kilos of lunar materialwhich will be studied first by CNSA scientists and then released for further research.
In addition, the Asian country has its next mission on the agenda Chang’e-7which will travel to the south pole of the Moon in 2026 and Chang’e-8which will land on the moon in 2028 to carry out tests on lunar terrain.
