The Chinese Chang’e-6 spacecraft successfully took a soil sample from the far side of the Moon and took off. In the near future, it will dock with a service module in lunar orbit, which will then head to Earth.
Chang’e-6 became only the second spacecraft in history to land on the far side of the moon. It happened on June 2nd. Its landing site was the 500-kilometer Apollo crater, which in turn is part of the South Pole-Aitken Basin, the largest confirmed impact structure on the Moon.
After the moon landing, Chang’e-6 took a panorama of the surrounding area, unfurled the Chinese flag and carried out a series of measurements using scientific instruments installed on it. In addition, it released a micro-rover, which then photographed the landing platform.
But still, the main task of Chang’e-6 was to collect a sample of lunar soil. This operation was successful, which made it possible to proceed to the next stage of the mission to return the collected samples to Earth.
On June 4, the Chang’e-6 take-off module left the far side of the Moon and entered lunar orbit. The moment of its launch was recorded using a camera on the landing platform. In the near future, the Chang ‘e-6 take-off module will dock with the service module in orbit and transfer samples to it. After that, the latter will set a course for Earth. The sample capsule is scheduled to land on June 25.
