Lunar samples from China are currently being transported back to Earth from the Moon's far side.
The Chang'e-6 lunar mission, China's latest exploration of the Moon, embarked on its journey on June 2, 2024, at 1:40 a.m. French time. This mission, marked by its scientific significance, carried several international payloads, including a French radon detector, a negative ion analyzer developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), and an Italian laser corner reflector.
The mission's landing on the far side of the Moon was facilitated by precise site selection in the southwestern Apollo basin inside the South Pole–Aitken basin, a geologically significant and ancient impact area. Communication with Earth was maintained via relay satellite technology, similar to previous far-side missions like Chang'e-4, which used the Queqiao relay satellite.
Upon landing, Chang'e-6 was equipped with an array of instruments. These included a camera for high-definition images, a mineral spectral analysis instrument, a structure detector to analyse the soil beneath the moon’s surface, and the in-situ Lunar Regolith Penetrating Radar. This radar allowed detailed probing of the lunar surface and subsurface structures, revealing the geological stratigraphy and subsoil layering at the landing site.
The radar data helped characterize the complex regolith, the underlying hidden geological formations, and informed future human and robotic mission planning by identifying safe landing zones and potential habitat construction sites. The mission also collected basalt rock and soil samples, which upon analysis revealed that the lunar mantle beneath the far side is notably drier, more chemically reduced, and more depleted than samples from the near side.
This key finding suggests that the far side mantle either has remained primitive or was altered by a major impact event, highlighting fundamental differences in lunar internal structure between the near and far sides. The samples collected by Chang'e-6 will be transported to a laboratory in Beijing for examination, and are expected to provide unique scientific data due to the region's older geological history.
The Chang'e-6 lunar lander collected approximately 2.2 kg of rocks and samples from the Moon. The descent and landing were facilitated by the Queqiao-2 relay satellite, and the return of Chang'e-6 to Earth is scheduled for June 25th. This marks the first time in human history that lunar samples have been recovered from the far side of the Moon.
In conclusion, the Chang'e-6 mission, with its precision landing in a scientifically valuable basin and its groundbreaking geological and geochemical research into the Moon's far side mantle and subsurface structure, has significantly expanded our understanding of the Moon's geology and internal structure.
The Chang'e-6 mission, with its focus on health-and-wellness through the analysis of Moon samples, could potentially lead to new discoveries about the Free radicals or other harmful substances present in lunar regolith, aiding in the development of advanced methods for space-and-astronomy missions to protect astronauts from similar elements.
By comparing the chemical differences between the near and far side lunar mantle as a result of Chang'e-6's research, we may be able to shed light on the origins of these disparities, contributing to the broader field of science and helping us better understand planetary formations.
