On May 3rd, the Long March 5 Y8 carrier rocket carrying the Chang'e 6 lunar probe was successfully launched from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in China.
This marks the second mission of the Long March 5 carrier rocket for lunar exploration, aiming to transport the Chang'e 6 probe to the Earth-Moon transfer orbit to carry out the mission of sampling and returning from the far side of the Moon.
On December 17, 2020, the Chang'e 5 mission successfully brought back lunar soil samples from the Moon's northern hemisphere. This time, Chang'e 6 will sample from the southern hemisphere.
The designated landing site is the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the Moon, a geologically diverse area where scientists hope to find and collect lunar rock samples from different regions and ages.
If successful, China will become the first country to achieve a lunar far side sample return mission.
Chang'e 6's mission is more complex than previous lunar missions, as it will explore areas untouched by humans and perform a series of challenging operations including autonomous sampling, ascent, and liftoff. These tasks pose significant challenges for the probe's design and operation.
Studying these samples will greatly enhance our understanding of the Moon.
