China all set for launch of mission to far side of moon
Context:
China is set to launch a robotic spacecraft to the moon’s far side, marking the beginning of a series of missions aimed at establishing a crewed landing and a lunar base.
Relevance:
GS-03 (Space technology)
Key highlights:
- Since 2007, China has made significant advancements in lunar exploration, narrowing the technological gap with the United States.
- In 2020, China successfully brought back samples from the moon’s near side, demonstrating its capability to safely return uncrewed spacecraft from the lunar surface.
- The upcoming Chang’e-6 mission will collect soil and rocks from the moon’s far side, utilizing a relay satellite for communication during its 53-day mission.
- China plans to conduct future missions, including Chang’e-7 and 8, to explore the moon’s south pole for water and establish an outpost with Russia, aiming to land astronauts on the moon by 2030.
- International collaboration is evident in China’s lunar missions, with payloads from countries like France, Italy, Sweden, Pakistan, Russia, Switzerland, and Thailand being carried onboard.
Chang’e 6 Mission Overview:
- Chang’e 6 is a forthcoming lunar exploration endeavor intended to procure samples from the southern pole of the Moon.
- This mission’s objective is to successfully land on the lunar surface, gather samples, and transport them back to Earth, facilitating a deeper understanding of the Moon’s geological composition.
- Distinguished as the initial endeavor to retrieve specimens from the unexplored far side of the Moon, Chang’e 6 endeavors to acquire up to two kilograms of lunar material, adopting a configuration akin to the triumphant Chang’e 5 mission.
- Highlighting collaborative efforts on a global scale, payloads from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French space agency CNES are integrated into the mission’s instrumentation.
- ESA’s contribution encompasses a lunar surface ion tester, while CNES provides equipment tailored for measuring radon gas and its decay by-products.
- Furthermore, inclusion in the mission encompasses an Italian laser corner reflector for radar instrument calibration and Pakistan’s ICUBE-Q CubeSat.
- Comprising both a lander and a rover, Chang’e 6’s operational framework entails the lander’s touchdown on the lunar surface, with the rover undertaking exploratory missions, executing experiments, and facilitating sample retrieval.
- The gathered lunar samples will be shared with the global scientific community, fostering collaborative research endeavors and advancing our comprehension of lunar geology.
