Chang'e-6 lunar mission

[otter]

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-04/24/c_139903600.htm

China aims to launch Chang'e-6 lunar probe around 2024
Source: Xinhua| 2021-04-24 23:37:03

NANJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China aims to launch the Chang'e-6 probe to collect samples in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon around 2024, said a space expert on Saturday.

Hu Hao, the chief designer of the third stage of China's lunar exploration program, told the China Space Conference, held in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, that detailed designing on the mission is in progress.

China launched the Chang'e-5 probe in 2020, successfully bringing home 1,731 grams of moon samples.

As the backup of the Chang'e-5 mission, the Chang'e-6 mission would also collect lunar samples automatically for comprehensive analysis and research.

The China National Space Administration has invited scientists around the world to participate in the program, offering to carry solicited payloads.

Four payloads developed by scientists from France, Sweden, Italy, Russia and China have been preliminarily selected. After the detailed plan of the Chang'e-6 mission comes out, the payloads will be finally determined, said Hu.

China will carry out lunar resource exploration, scientific research and technological experiments in the Chang'e-6, Chang'e-7 and Chang'e-8 missions, aiming to build a prototype scientific research station on the moon by 2030, Hu added.

[vjkane]

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-04/24/c_139903600.htm

NANJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China aims to launch the Chang'e-6 probe to collect samples in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon around 2024, said a space expert on Saturday.

One of the candidate missions for the next New Frontiers mission is a sample return from the South Pole-Aitken Basin.  If China is committed to this mission, and it appears that it is, then that might make a proposal to the NASA competition non competitive.

[Phil Stooke]

I think this has been mentioned before (the new thing in this announcement is really just the date and foreign involvement).

Although this says 'South Pole-Aitken Basin', all other discussion of it has pointed to the South Pole.  Technically this is in the basin or on its rim, but it's absolutely not the same as the stated objective of past US mission proposals, which is to sample impact basin melt near the middle of the basin.  I would expect to see a Chinese mission primarily interested in volatiles in the regolith, with a secondary interest in collecting basin rim fragments, and a US mission dedicated to impact melt pool sampling.  They would be complementary, not competitive.

[vjkane]

I think this has been mentioned before (the new thing in this announcement is really just the date and foreign involvement).

Although this says 'South Pole-Aitken Basin', all other discussion of it has pointed to the South Pole.  Technically this is in the basin or on its rim, but it's absolutely not the same as the stated objective of past US mission proposals, which is to sample impact basin melt near the middle of the basin.  I would expect to see a Chinese mission primarily interested in volatiles in the regolith, with a secondary interest in collecting basin rim fragments, and a US mission dedicated to impact melt pool sampling.  They would be complementary, not competitive.

Phil, the more detailed descriptions that I've seen of this mission's potential landing sites say either south pole with a focus on volatiles OR South Pole-Aitken Basin.  The choice of wording here suggests to me that they have decided on sampling the impact melt pool sampling and therefore studying the moon's early history.  The descriptions of Chang'e-7 have been clear about studying the volatiles.

Of course, with Chinese drips of information on missions, there often is some tea leaf reading needed.

[vjkane]

Per an article in Space.com, China will use the Chang'e 6 mission to return a sample from the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin on the far side of the moon. This would effectively replace the candidate mission with the same goal on the New Frontiers 5 mission list.

https://www.space.com/china-chang-e-6-moon-sample-return-preparations?utm_source=pocket_mylist

[Phil Stooke]

It is confusing, as always with Chinese missions.  The Space.com article also says CE6 will be part of the China-Russia lunar research station which appears to be aiming at Amundsen crater:

"Chang'e 6 is being listed as an early part of a joint project with Russia to establish an International Lunar Research Station."

The article mentions the need for a relay satellite.  In Amundsen with careful timing a relay would not be needed.

Amundsen is technically in the SPA basin but far from the impact melt areas of greatest interest to most North American geologists.  In fact you can never really trust anything that refers to the SPA basin without some serious clarification.  So basically I feel we are still in the same confusing place referred to in the previous set of posts. 

[libra]

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-04/24/c_139903600.htm

NANJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China aims to launch the Chang'e-6 probe to collect samples in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side of the moon around 2024, said a space expert on Saturday.

One of the candidate missions for the next New Frontiers mission is a sample return from the South Pole-Aitken Basin.  If China is committed to this mission, and it appears that it is, then that might make a proposal to the NASA competition non competitive.

One of the candidate missions for the next New Frontiers mission is a sample return from the South Pole-Aitken Basin

Is that Moonrise again ? Talk about stubborn scientists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MoonRise

https://www.wired.com/2012/11/lunar-south-pole-aitken-sample-return-2002/

https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1999nvm..conf...11D/abstract

They will never, ever give up that mission. And of course they are right: it's a fascinating one.

[otter]

China's lunar probe to carry payloads from European, French space agencies

https://english.news.cn/20230613/b75ad82be37c4c989818086f11ff4a8f/c.html

[vjkane]

There's a new paper out describing the candidate landing sites for the Chang'e-6 mission to collect samples from the lunar South Pole-Aitken basin. This is the same general region that the candidate NF 5 mission would sample, so the Chinese mission might impact whether the NF mission is retained on the list.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-023-02038-1

I believe this is publicly available (my system may be logged into my university account, which allows me to open it if it's not).

Here is the abstract:

Landing site of the Chang’e-6 lunar farside sample return mission from the Apollo basin

To address questions about the multiple lunar nearside–farside dichotomies and to provide new insights into both the early impact history of the Solar System and the geological evolution of the Moon, the Chang’e-6 (CE-6) landing zone has been selected to lie within the lunar farside South Pole–Aitken (SPA) basin in the southern part of the Apollo basin (150–158° W, 41–45° S), a site that provides access to a diversity of SPA material. Here, we describe the geomorphology, geology and chronology of three candidate sampling sites within this zone that are likely to ensure safe landing and sampling. The geological characteristics indicate that CE-6 is expected to collect lunar farside SPA ejecta fragments, possible mantle material and young (roughly 2.40 Gyr-year-old) and/or old (roughly 3.43 Gyr-year-old) basaltic material, all of which will provide important guidance for future in situ farside sample collection and deepen our understanding of the evolution of the Moon.

[otter]

China to launch next lunar probe around 2024

https://english.news.cn/20230929/41e600955c5444b9a5571e246720e842/c.html

BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- China's next lunar probe Chang'e-6 will be launched around 2024 as planned, with related development tasks currently in progress, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said Friday.

According to the country's lunar exploration program, the Chang'e-6 mission will collect samples from the far side of the moon. It aims to land in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the far side to explore and collect lunar samples from different regions and ages.

To support the communications between the moon's far side and the Earth, China plans to launch its newly developed relay satellite Queqiao-2, or Magpie Bridge-2, in the first half of 2024, the CNSA said.

It noted that the Chang'e-6 lunar probe will carry payloads from France, Italy, Pakistan and the European Space Agency, which include a negative ion detector and a radon gas detector.

[hextreme]

Nobody posted this? Chang'e-6 probe has arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Site:
https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6759533/c10460820/content.html

[sdsds]

Google Translate version of text on the above-linked page:

On January 8 and 9, 2024, the detector products of the Chang'e-6 mission of the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project arrived at Hainan Meilan International Airport on An-124 and Y-20 aircraft respectively, and were then transported by road to Wenchang Aerospace of China launch site. Subsequent test preparations before launch will be carried out as planned.

The Chang'e-6 mission will break through key technologies such as lunar retrograde orbit design and control, lunar farside intelligent sampling, and lunar farside takeoff and ascent, implement automatic sampling and return on the lunar farside, and at the same time carry out scientific exploration of the landing area and international cooperation.

Picture: Meng Yuan, Cheng Qingchuan, Li Linsong

At present, the launch site facilities are in good condition and all preparations are being carried out in an orderly manner as planned. Chang'e-6 is scheduled to be launched in the first half of this year.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Nobody posted this? Chang'e-6 probe has arrived at the Wenchang Space Launch Site:
https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6759533/c10460820/content.html

This was posted in the launch thread in another section when this happened in early January. We currently usually tracks mission status there until after launch (in May).

[Blackstar]

https://spacenews.com/chinas-change-6-probe-arrives-at-spaceport-for-first-ever-lunar-far-side-sample-mission/

[GELORD]

  patch Chang'e-6

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/china-moon-relay-satellite-testing-confirms-readiness-for-future-lunar-lander-missions/

[Blackstar]

And awaaaay we go...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/05/02/china-moon-mission/

China launches world-first mission to retrieve samples from far side of moon

The Chang’e 6 mission will advance Beijing’s ambitions to become a space power and scientific force, but its steady progress has caused concern at NASA and in Congress.
By Lyric Li
and
Christian Davenport
Updated May 3, 2024 at 5:38 a.m. EDT|Published May 2, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. EDT

China on Friday embarked on one of its most ambitious space missions yet: the launch of a probe to retrieve samples from the far side of the moon and bring them back to Earth within two months.

If successful, it would be a first, for any country.

Beijing has ambitions to become a space power and scientific force, laying out plans to land Chinese astronauts on the lunar surface by 2030 and set up a base at the moon’s south pole. This has created a new frontier in its broad rivalry with the United States, also including computer chips and solar panels.

China’s methodical steps over the years to extend its reach from Earth orbit to the moon and even Mars have worried NASA — whose own moon program, called Artemis, is facing delays — and members of Congress.

During a NASA budget hearing this week, Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said that “while the U.S. remains the global leader in space exploration, we face increasing challenges internationally.”

China has already successfully landed unmanned spacecraft on the far side of the moon and brought back samples from the near side, but Friday’s mission will attempt to combine the two.

A Long March 5 rocket topped with an 8.2-ton spacecraft named Chang’e 6 blasted off at 5:27 p.m. Friday local time (5:27 a.m. Eastern time) from the country’s southernmost spaceport, the Wenchang Space Launch Site on the subtropical island of Hainan. In Chinese mythology, Chang’e is a woman who consumed an elixir of life before flying to the moon.

The probe, originally built as a backup for China’s 2020 mission to the moon’s near side, is expected to touch down in the Apollo crater in the larger South Pole-Aitkin basin of the moon.

Chang’e 6’s odyssey will take 53 days, more than twice the time its predecessor took, and bring back about two kilograms (4.4 pounds) of samples from the side of the moon that’s not visible from Earth.

[Blackstar]

https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1786353438806217036

[deadman1204]

Good luck China on Chang'e 6!

[spacexplorer]

Spacecraft separation successful! (initiallly planned for 2024/05/04 21:25 UTC )

https://twitter.com/dfexpress26/status/1787123314911228363

| Time (T+)  | Event                          | UTC                |
|------------|-------------------------------|---------------------|
| T+00:00    | Liftoff                       | 2024/05/03 09:27 UTC|
| T+00:17    | Pitch-over                    | 2024/05/03 09:44 UTC|
| T+02:55    | BECO (Booster Engine Cutoff)  | 2024/05/03 12:22 UTC|
| T+02:56    | Boosters sep (Separation)     | 2024/05/03 12:23 UTC|
| T+05:26    | Fairing sep (Separation)      | 2024/05/03 14:53 UTC|
| T+08:01    | MECO (Main Engine Cutoff)     | 2024/05/03 17:28 UTC|
| T+08:05    | 1st stage sep (Separation)    | 2024/05/03 17:32 UTC|
| T+08:08    | SEI-1                         | 2024/05/03 17:35 UTC|
| T+12:15    | SECO-1 (Second Engine Cutoff) | 2024/05/03 21:42 UTC|
| T+28:45    | SEI-2                         | 2024/05/04 14:12 UTC|
| T+35:33    | SECO-2 (Second Engine Cutoff) | 2024/05/04 20:00 UTC|
| T+35:48    | Terminal Guidance ends        | 2024/05/04 20:15 UTC|
| T+36:58    | Spacecraft sep (Separation)   | 2024/05/04 21:25 UTC| <<<<<<
| T+3d       | LOI (Lunar Orbit Insertion)   | 2024/05/07 00:00 UTC|
| T+29d      | Lander separation from orbiter| 2024/06/01 00:00 UTC|
| T+30d      | Landing at Apollo Basin       | 2024/06/02 00:00 UTC|
| T+32d      | Launch of ascent stage        | 2024/06/04 00:00 UTC|
| T+34d      | Ascent stage docking w.orbiter| 2024/06/06 00:00 UTC|
| T+48d      | TEI (Trans-Earth Injection)   | 2024/06/20 00:00 UTC|
| T+53d      | Landing on Earth              | 2024/06/25 00:00 UTC|

[spacexplorer]

By schedule, C6 should be now in Moon orbit:

LOI (Lunar Orbit Insertion)   T+3d   2024/05/07 00:00 UTC   

[spacexplorer]

 DORN instrument by CNES:

https://www.irap.omp.eu/en/2024/04/dorn-objective-moon/

Monday May 6, 2024: Chang’e 6’s journey will take 4 or 5 days to reach lunar orbit, before landing near the Moon’s south pole in early June. DORN will then activate for 48 hours: the amount of energy available is limited, and the lander has to carry out several missions. It will be the 1st French instrument active on the surface of our satellite (source CNES).


Official site: https://dorn.cnes.fr/fr/

[Liss]

By schedule, C6 should be now in Moon orbit:

LOI (Lunar Orbit Insertion)   T+3d   2024/05/07 00:00 UTC   

Well, 00:00 UTC in this table is just a guess.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

By schedule, C6 should be now in Moon orbit:

LOI (Lunar Orbit Insertion)   T+3d   2024/05/07 00:00 UTC   

Well, 00:00 UTC in this table is just a guess.

Radio tracking indicates LOI at ~03:00 UTC May 8th:

https://twitter.com/coastal8049/status/1787531656355618906

Tracking of Chang'e 6 continues with day 4 of it's journey to the Moon starting here.  As you can see there are no optical observations of CE6's journey as it's in the glare of the Sun.

Expecting arrival into lunar orbit around 2024-05-08T03:00 UTC.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Chang'e 6 has entered lunar orbit around 1 hour ago: https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5031700936265747

This is apparently into a 12 hours period retrograde orbit where Pakistan's ICUBE Q is planned to be deployed into. 2 more orbit lowering burns will occur in the coming days to lower its orbit (first to a 4 hours period elliptical one, then to 200 km circular orbit).

[spacexplorer]

By schedule, C6 should be now in Moon orbit:

LOI (Lunar Orbit Insertion)   T+3d   2024/05/07 00:00 UTC   

Well, 00:00 UTC in this table is just a guess.

It's not a guess, it's a pure invention :-) , I have no data at all about time, only date.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Chang'e 6 has entered lunar orbit around 1 hour ago: https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5031700936265747

This is apparently into a 12 hours period retrograde orbit where Pakistan's ICUBE Q is planned to be deployed into. 2 more orbit lowering burns will occur in the coming days to lower its orbit (first to a 4 hours period elliptical one, then to 200 km circular orbit).

Additional details per https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5031719002706756:

* LOI was at 02:12 UTC
* Current orbit 200 x 8600 km (P=12h)
* Next orbit 200 x 2200 km (P=4h)
* Final orbit for orbiter 200 x 200 km (P=128 min)
* The lander will separate from the orbit from the 200 km orbit in the next few weeks.

[eeergo]

Chang'e 6 has entered lunar orbit around 1 hour ago: https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5031700936265747

This is apparently into a 12 hours period retrograde orbit where Pakistan's ICUBE Q is planned to be deployed into. 2 more orbit lowering burns will occur in the coming days to lower its orbit (first to a 4 hours period elliptical one, then to 200 km circular orbit).

Additional details per https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5031719002706756:

* LOI was at 02:12 UTC
* Current orbit 200 x 8600 km (P=12h)
* Next orbit 200 x 2200 km (P=4h)
* Final orbit for orbiter 200 x 200 km (P=128 min)
* The lander will separate from the orbit from the 200 km orbit in the next few weeks.

ICUBE-Q should be separated in this preliminary current orbit, so soon.

[Svetoslav]

It's reported to have been deployed:
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1186687-pakistans-first-lunar-mission-icube-qamar-deployed-in-orbit

[Emmettvonbrown]

Pakistan to the Moon ! Congrats to them. Smart idea, to hitch a ride on a Chinese probe. 

[deadman1204]

Pakistan to the Moon !

What a strange and wonderful world heh.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

It's reported to have been deployed:
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1186687-pakistans-first-lunar-mission-icube-qamar-deployed-in-orbit

Deployment apparently occurred at 08:14 UTC May 8th: https://m.weibo.cn/detail/5031902979557141

[Svetoslav]

Pakistani mission reported to has taken first image, thought I'm not sure what it shows:

https://gnnhd.tv/news/34789/first-image-from-icube-qamar-received

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRuKdZx4diE

[Svetoslav]

Ah, here's an Image with the Moon in it:

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1187438-pakistan-s-maiden-lunar-mission-sends-first-image-from-space

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/about-chinas-change-6-moon-rover-mystery-payload/

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Ah, here's an Image with the Moon in it:

https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1187438-pakistan-s-maiden-lunar-mission-sends-first-image-from-space

https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1788848544218051024

Chang'e-6: Images from the Pakistan-China Icube-Q released from the Chang'e-6 spacecraft in lunar orbit. Images taken May 8-9, variously showing the Moon and Sun. [CNSA] https://cnsa.gov.cn/n6759533/c10528800/content.html

[Emmettvonbrown]

Wait, Yutu-2 is still alive after 5 years on the Moon ? no idea how much it travelled but, duration wise, it has pulverized Lunokhods records.
Sorry, off-topic.

[Blackstar]

Touchdown planned for early June:

https://www.leonarddavid.com/chinas-robotic-moon-lander-ready-for-farside-sampling/

[Galactic Penguin SST]

I was casually checking on other things and accidentally saw an update from an "insider" source (not gonna post the link here since I'm not sure if leaking this out is a problem; PM me if you want it) - it looks like the 2nd and 3rd lunar orbit insertion/circulation burns were performed on May 9th (~02:56 UTC, to 4 hours period elliptical orbit) and May 21st (~14:27 UTC, to 200 x 200 km x 43° LLO) respectively.

Neither of these were officially reported.

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/china-prepares-for-far-side-moon-landing-sample-return/

Mission Timeline (5-24-24)
• 5-3-24: Launched
• 5-8-24: Entered a 12-hour lunar orbit (~200 X 380,000 km
altitude) begins circularizing orbit.
• 5-24-24: Currently; studying landing site areas for
accessibility and landing.
Following are in Beijing Times:
• 6-2-24: Descent and Landing: Surface sampling and
instrument observations for three days:
• 6-4-24: Ascent to lunar orbit:
• 6-6-24: Ascent module docks with orbiter, transfers
samples: Leave lunar orbit for trans-Earth coast:
• 6-25-24: Earth atmosphere reentry, descent and landing.
• -Samples recovered, returned to NAOC Beijing LRL, where
preliminary examination team undertakes description and
documentation prior to publication of the CE-6 sample catalog;
samples then become open for application to CNSA for
analysis to the scientific community.

[Phil Stooke]

Seger Yu tweets a landing location reported on CCTV news: 154.4° W, 42.1° S.

https://x.com/SegerYu/status/1795057805495291916

[Galactic Penguin SST]

https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1795753457435255156

Chang'e-6 lunar far side landing attempt set for approx 0000 UTC Sunday, June 2 (8:00 p.m. EDT  June 1, 0800 BJT June 2)

(source is from the Swedish Negative Ions on Lunar Surface instrument team at ESA)

[Galactic Penguin SST]

I was casually checking on other things and accidentally saw an update from an "insider" source (not gonna post the link here since I'm not sure if leaking this out is a problem; PM me if you want it) - it looks like the 2nd and 3rd lunar orbit insertion/circulation burns were performed on May 9th (~02:56 UTC, to 4 hours period elliptical orbit) and May 21st (~14:27 UTC, to 200 x 200 km x 43° LLO) respectively.

Neither of these were officially reported.

Same "insider source" now updated claiming that the lander will separate from the orbiter-return capsule TODAY, May 30. Landing is still on June 2 as reported above.

[Spiceman]

That first week of June will be pretty exciting ! 

[punder]

Here’s something… no idea if it’s legit.

Update: nope.

[punder]

And… no, the first one is NOT legit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oasCmHBUX8

[tolis]

There is a post by Thorsten Denk on unmannedspaceflight.com suggesting the landing already took place.

[DT1]

And also this news:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-06-02/China-s-Chang-e-6-probe-lands-on-far-side-of-moon-1u5XLCSm8nu/p.html

The Chang'e-6 probe touched down on the far side of the moon on Sunday, according to the China National Space Administration.

[tolis]

Another report with a landing time: 2223 UTC

https://spacenews.com/change-6-lands-on-far-side-of-the-moon-to-collect-unique-lunar-samples/

[DT1]

And also this news:
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-06-02/China-s-Chang-e-6-probe-lands-on-far-side-of-moon-1u5XLCSm8nu/p.html

The Chang'e-6 probe touched down on the far side of the moon on Sunday, according to the China National Space Administration.

SpaceNews is also reporting the successful landing:
https://spacenews.com/change-6-lands-on-far-side-of-the-moon-to-collect-unique-lunar-samples/

The Chang’e-6 lander made a soft landing at 6:23 p.m. Eastern June 1 (2223 UTC), the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced shortly after the event.

[Blackstar]

I have this memory that when they did CE-3 they broadcast in real time. Is that true? Now they don't want to do anything live?

[Hungry4info3]

Yes. CE3 was broadcast live. It might be harder to do farside missions due to the comm differences. I'm not sure.

[spaceman3]

Amazing to see the difference between, say, the ISRO landing w/ Chandrayaan-3, which was widely discussed online (and on the front page of the NY Times the next day!) and this landing which isn't being discussed in the usual space-obsessed places such as the Facebook Space Hipster group or on X.

Or maybe I'm missing something.

If this landing is successful (still unknown), it's a pretty significant achievement, especially this year, when several other landers have failed to land successfully.

[Hungry4info3]

(still unknown)

We have confirmation from CNSA. Italian instrument has been deployed. French and ESA instruments "about to start working."
https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n6758844/n10518102/n10518147/c10541444/content.html

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Amazing to see the difference between, say, the ISRO landing w/ Chandrayaan-3, which was widely discussed online (and on the front page of the NY Times the next day!) and this landing which isn't being discussed in the usual space-obsessed places such as the Facebook Space Hipster group or on X.

Or maybe I'm missing something.

If this landing is successful (still unknown), it's a pretty significant achievement, especially this year, when several other landers have failed to land successfully.

You can't do anything when Chinese officials doesn't offer any concrete updates to the mission since initial lunar orbit injection in early May...

Anyway touchdown occurred at 22:23:15.861 UTC. As far as I can see, if the Chinese has received surface images, they haven't released them yet. Also the landing coordinates is not seen (though looking at the MCC screens I imagine it won't be far away from planned).

https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Penguin/status/1797079286970790147
https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Penguin/status/1797079289978048946

[Blackstar]

Amazing to see the difference between, say, the ISRO landing w/ Chandrayaan-3, which was widely discussed online (and on the front page of the NY Times the next day!) and this landing which isn't being discussed in the usual space-obsessed places such as the Facebook Space Hipster group or on X.

Or maybe I'm missing something.

If this landing is successful (still unknown), it's a pretty significant achievement, especially this year, when several other landers have failed to land successfully.

It's primarily the secrecy.

Also, doing something for the fourth time is a bit less interesting for the media.

[spaceman3]

It's primarily the secrecy.

Also, doing something for the fourth time is a bit less interesting for the media.

Oh yeah, no doubt it's the secrecy. I guess I'm a little confused as they had way more PR for previous landings but not this one. The previous sampling mission, if I recall, had tons of live updates.

I'll say there's one more issue: with India, English is embedded into national culture so it's much easier to translate across global media. This is not the case with China.

Either way, impressive stuff. Let's see if they manage to pull off the much harder part--the liftoff, rendezvous and docking, and return to Earth.

[Hungry4info3]

The super-secret broadcast that's shrouded in secrecy is about to start in ~2 minutes.
(seriously, can we knock it off with this cold war era mindset?)

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Special post-landing programme coverage at CCTV: https://weibo.com/l/wblive/p/show/1022:2321325040752848666745

[Blackstar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3QU3vAx810

[Galactic Penguin SST]

First images from the landing as shown at the scientific instruments control room at the National Astronomical Observatories of China (NAOC):

[Phil Stooke]

Ending with a great landing video.  Four attempts, four successes (five if you count Mars, and that's just the landers).  Well done everybody involved.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Ending with a great landing video.  Four attempts, four successes (five if you count Mars, and that's just the landers).  Well done everybody involved.

https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Penguin/status/1797102131838947509
https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Penguin/status/1797102290459050065

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://youtu.be/KRtdMTUTkt4

[Liss]

From the video, I'd say that 154.4W may be close to real, but the latitude was somewhat like 41.65N.

[starbase]

Exact landing coordinates have been found to be 153.98545° W, 41.63839° S.

https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Penguin/status/1797162892036583903

[Blackstar]

Ending with a great landing video.  Four attempts, four successes (five if you count Mars, and that's just the landers).  Well done everybody involved.

It is clearly a well-resourced program. Funding and testing. I really like their methodical approach of building on each mission and adding something new.

[tolis]

Hopefully, there will be some surface images too.
From the video, it appeared CE6 landed next to a field of ejecta blocks from a nearby crater.
The lack of scale makes it difficult to judge absolute sizes though, the crater (and blocks) could be quite small.

[Targeteer]

I have this memory that when they did CE-3 they broadcast in real time. Is that true? Now they don't want to do anything live?

A cynic might say they didn't want to broadcast a failure live.

[Spiceman]

Ending with a great landing video.  Four attempts, four successes (five if you count Mars, and that's just the landers).  Well done everybody involved.

It is clearly a well-resourced program. Funding and testing. I really like their methodical approach of building on each mission and adding something new.

As was the Soviet planetary program... a long time ago (40 years ? 50 years ?). When there was a) a strong political will b) to provide funding aplenty and c) an authoritarian streak to level any opposition...
(nota bene: I'm not advocating authoritarian regimes as more effective than democracy to achieve space goals).

[Svetoslav]

Still, we can't compare the old Soviet practice and the modern Chinese one. The Soviets didn't have live broadcasts, yes, but they also didn't announce the launches in advance, the purpose and schemes of their spacecraft, the missions, the scientific goals. Images were published rarely, if they served the Soviet propaganda.

With the exception of lack of live broadcasts, none of this is true for China. We have much more information available, including videos and imagery. Not enough to satisfy me, of course, but enough to keep me engaged.

[otisbow]

If you understand Chinese (I don't), you can Google CCTV-13 and watch Chinese programming live.

[JSz]

Still, we can't compare the old Soviet practice and the modern Chinese one. The Soviets didn't have live broadcasts, yes, but they also didn't announce the launches in advance, the purpose and schemes of their spacecraft, the missions, the scientific goals. Images were published rarely, if they served the Soviet propaganda.

With the exception of lack of live broadcasts, none of this is true for China. We have much more information available, including videos and imagery. Not enough to satisfy me, of course, but enough to keep me engaged.

Above all, failed missions were never admitted in Soviet programmes - this is a crucial difference from the Chinese programmes. There were indeed many, if not most, such failed missions, generally due to the failure of the booster rocket or the inability to leave LEO. Their hiding was made possible by the fact that the missions were never announced and were only disclosed when the probe was already on its way to its destination.

These unsuccessful missions were later camouflaged under the names Cosmos or Sputnik (if they entered Earth orbit, because then it was no longer possible to hide them, at most to disguise their original destination).

[Dalhousie]

I have this memory that when they did CE-3 they broadcast in real time. Is that true? Now they don't want to do anything live?

A cynic might say they didn't want to broadcast a failure live.

Maybe, but Chang'e 3 landing was broadcast live.

[zubenelgenubi]

Moderator to Dalhousie:
Character assassination of Anatoly Zak deleted.

Ad hominem posts regarding fellow members deleted, including the crack about sinophobia.

You really are a broken record.  Stop.

Or post elsewhere.

[Blackstar]

Andrew Jones has been following this on Twitter. If you have access to Twitter, then following him is a good way to get updates:

https://twitter.com/AJ_FI/status/1797140700816986609

[Galactic Penguin SST]

I saw rumors that the ascent stage should launch from the lunar surface into orbit late today UTC, in line with previous reports that the surface operations is planned for ~48 hours, just like Chang'e 5.

No status updates for today so far except for an official Weibo account for Chang'e 6 being released today, quoted by state media.

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/chinas-moon-lander-preparing-to-haul-back-the-goods/

[Galactic Penguin SST]

This just in: CNSA reported that the ascent stage has launched from the lunar surface at 23:38 UTC and successfully entered a 15 x 180 km lunar orbit after its 3000N main engine fired for 6 minutes.

As with Chang'e 5 the lander did have a national flag deployed on its side.

[Phil Stooke]

https://m.weibo.cn/search?containerid=231522type%3D1%26t%3D10%26q%3D%23%E5%AB%A6%E5%A8%A5%E5%85%AD%E5%8F%B7%E6%9C%88%E8%83%8C%E6%8C%96%E5%AE%9D%E5%AE%9E%E5%86%B5%E7%BA%AA%E5%BD%95%23&extparam=%23%E5%AB%A6%E5%A8%A5%E5%85%AD%E5%8F%B7%E6%9C%88%E8%83%8C%E6%8C%96%E5%AE%9D%E5%AE%9E%E5%86%B5%E7%BA%AA%E5%BD%95%23&luicode=20000061&lfid=5041449899393061

That horrible search result leads to a downloadable video of sampling operations.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

https://m.weibo.cn/search?containerid=231522type%3D1%26t%3D10%26q%3D%23%E5%AB%A6%E5%A8%A5%E5%85%AD%E5%8F%B7%E6%9C%88%E8%83%8C%E6%8C%96%E5%AE%9D%E5%AE%9E%E5%86%B5%E7%BA%AA%E5%BD%95%23&extparam=%23%E5%AB%A6%E5%A8%A5%E5%85%AD%E5%8F%B7%E6%9C%88%E8%83%8C%E6%8C%96%E5%AE%9D%E5%AE%9E%E5%86%B5%E7%BA%AA%E5%BD%95%23&luicode=20000061&lfid=5041449899393061

That horrible search result leads to a downloadable video of sampling operations.

I managed to find 2 summary videos there. The full ones are at https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n6758838/c10543020/content.html but downloading them has been problematic so far.

Also just released is a shot of the ascent stage lifting off shot from the descent stage below:

https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Penguin/status/1797788650664792550

https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Penguin/status/1797788657279189366

https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Penguin/status/1797793019795759220

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Photos from descent (first 3 photos; first 2 during landing and the third just after) and panoramic cameras (4th one - Chaffee crater in the background): https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n6758838/c10543340/content.html

[Galactic Penguin SST]

The expected photo from the secret rover of the Chang'e 6 lander in full is here: https://www.cnsa.gov.cn/n6758823/n6758838/c10543444/content.html

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://youtu.be/hoOKUBeu7vs

https://youtu.be/ODG5NGkJx2I

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://youtu.be/Duo-Fj-eKUE

https://youtu.be/8dug2_hYDww

[eeergo]

https://twitter.com/CNSAWatcher/status/1797811975101026523

[Galactic Penguin SST]

https://twitter.com/CNSAWatcher/status/1797811975101026523

This might be just a misinterpretation:

https://twitter.com/ThomasTarrants/status/1797863765238796575

Is there an animation? It looks a lot like the drill sample delivery system that was on top of the stack at landing, but retracts back after core drilling (same orientation, structure, etc). I would be willing to bet it's just a rendering glitch not showing the whole structure.

[Phil Stooke]

Late tomorrow and into the next day there will be LRO imaging opportunities for CE6.

[eeergo]

So Chang'e-6's robotic arm has attempted to write on the regolith the main character (zhong) for China's Mandarin name: 中国, Zhongguo. Not great, not terrible I would say 

[deadman1204]

So Chang'e-6's robotic arm has attempted to write on the regolith the main character (zhong) for China's Mandarin name: 中国, Zhongguo. Not great, not terrible I would say 

Ok, that is so awesome

[eeergo]

So Chang'e-6's robotic arm has attempted to write on the regolith the main character (zhong) for China's Mandarin name: 中国, Zhongguo. Not great, not terrible I would say 

Ok, that is so awesome

Much better than flags IMO too.

By the way, just read that the fabric for the flag in Chang'e-6 is a type of basalt fabric weave. I thought this was very exotic, yet a quick search online made it obvious it's a relatively COTS material with a century of practical usage, employed instead of fiberglass or composites when more durability is needed.

[redliox]

How soon before sample capture is attempted?

[sandha]

If I recall correctly from previous posts in this thread (and from Chang'e 5's mission time-line in 2020) the attempted docking should occur two to three days after the liftoff of the ascender from the lunar surface; since we're coming up on 47 hours after said liftoff on June 3rd, I'd expect the attempt to occur in the next 25 hours or so.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

How soon before sample capture is attempted?

Ascent stage rendezvous and docking/sample transfer should be happening around now per rumors that I have seen, or by comparing with the actual mission timeline of Chang'e 5.

[Galactic Penguin SST]

CNSA has just confirmed good ascent stage-orbiter docking today at 06:48 UTC, with sample container transferred into the return capsule at 07:24 UTC.

https://twitter.com/Cosmic_Penguin/status/1798625021017124986

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://youtu.be/CmMhOhVMwDQ

[Phil Stooke]

Rover tracks visible here:

https://x.com/SegerYu/status/1798688466026594539

[Blackstar]

[tolis]

I wonder if the ascender lifting off put the lander out of commission. 
It was that way for Ch5 I think.

[tolis]

So Chang'e-6's robotic arm has attempted to write on the regolith the main character (zhong) for China's Mandarin name: 中国, Zhongguo. Not great, not terrible I would say 

Ok, that is so awesome

Future astronauts might be tempted to draw their own Nazca lines on the Moon.
 

[Phil Stooke]

https://twitter.com/coastal8049/status/1799241506987082130

Scott Tilley reports that the ascent stage has been de-orbited. No other word yet.

"Quick update on Chang'e 6 mission.  The Ascender was a no show today, indicative it has been deorbited and impacted on the Moon as CE5's did following expected mission timeline.  The Orbiter is behaving normally and has been in and out of lock with Argentina throughout today."

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/china-moon-researchers-prepare-for-far-side-sample-return/

https://www.leonarddavid.com/chinas-cache-of-far-side-moon-samples-ready-for-departure-to-earth/

https://www.leonarddavid.com/china-far-side-lunar-samples-next-step/

https://www.leonarddavid.com/china-moon-sample-mission-the-long-leg-back-to-earth/

https://www.leonarddavid.com/chinas-moon-lander-preparing-to-haul-back-the-goods/


Update--Here's another one:

https://www.leonarddavid.com/chinas-far-side-flag-textile-technology-for-the-moon/

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/smile-dont-move-far-side-mini-moonshot/

[Spiceman]

That's a pretty impressive piece of robotics the chinese have landed.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/coastal8049/status/1801390947705450774

A Chang'e 6 update.  The orbit appears to have been raised to a nominal lunar altitude of 246km, T=7927s between June 11th and 12th.  I waited to report this as I wanted another day's data to confirm.

[StraumliBlight]

NASA’s LRO Spots China’s Chang’e 6 Spacecraft on Lunar Far Side

NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) imaged China’s Chang’e 6 sample return spacecraft on the far side of the Moon on June 7. Chang’e 6 landed on June 1, and when LRO passed over the landing site almost a week later, it acquired an image showing the lander on the rim of an eroded, 55-yard-diameter (about 50 meters) crater.

The LRO Camera team computed the landing site coordinates as about 42 degrees south latitude, 206 degrees east longitude, at an elevation of about minus 3.27 miles (minus 5,256 meters).

The Chang’e 6 landing site is situated toward the southern edge of the Apollo basin (about 306 miles or 492 km in diameter, centered at 36.1 degrees south latitude, 208.3 degrees east longitude). Basaltic lava erupted south of Chaffee S crater about 3.1 billion years ago and flowed downhill to the west until it encountered a local topographic high, likely related to a fault. Several wrinkle ridges in this region have deformed and raised the mare surface. The landing site sits about halfway between two of these prominent ridges. This basaltic flow also overlaps a slightly older flow (about 3.3 billion years old), visible further west, but the younger flow is distinct because it has higher iron oxide and titanium dioxide abundances.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://youtu.be/jyGqJZ1NDAU

[sandha]

The close-up of the LRO image appears to show two possible tracks by the small roving robot near the lander; not sure if real or an image processing artifact combined with our own pattern recognition bias.

[Blackstar]

[Phil Stooke]

Do you mean two faint dark lines on the south side of the lander? (north is at the top of the image).  I don't know what they are, but they are not the rover tracks.  I have attached a map of the site to show that the rover moved west and north from the lander and there is no sign of those tracks in the image (too small).

The close-up of the LRO image appears to show two possible tracks by the small roving robot near the lander; not sure if real or an image processing artifact combined with our own pattern recognition bias.

[sandha]

Do you mean two faint dark lines on the south side of the lander? (north is at the top of the image).  I don't know what they are, but they are not the rover tracks.  I have attached a map of the site to show that the rover moved west and north from the lander and there is no sign of those tracks in the image (too small).

Hi Phil, thanks for clarifying the orientation on your model of the landing site for me. I stand corrected. If the oriientation of the LRO image is North=Up, then I think the most likely explanation for the "apparent tracks" that I perceived in the image is that they are shadows caused by local elevation variations given the sunlight angle at the site; less likely would be image processing artifact followed by more exotic real and imagined causes..

By the way, regarding the image of the landing site on which you overlaid the lander modelr, I assume that it's a frame from the Chang'e 6 landing sequence images?

[Phil Stooke]

Yes, from the landing image sequence.

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/heres-the-scoop-chinas-far-side-moon-mission/

[Galactic Penguin SST]

According to rumors that I have seen, the final TEI burn for the orbiter has already happened ~5 hours ago.

No official announcement for the moment.

[starbase]

Further indication that TEI happened:

https://twitter.com/amsatdl/status/1803883716948664719

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/china-far-side-moon-samples-evolving-human-exploration-plans/

[tolis]

Here's a report indicating that the sample is now on its way back to Earth:

https://www.bastillepost.com/global/article/3934243-change-6-completes-over-70-pct-of-journey-back-to-earth-with-moon-samples

[sandha]

Attached is a shot taken on or about 23 June 2024 showing part of the recovery convoy supposedly on its way to the anticipated landing site of the Chang'e 6 return module (in Inner Mongolia, according to the road signage). Credit: a poster named "by 78" over on SinoDefenceForum.com

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/coming-in-hot-china-ready-to-receive-far-side-lunar-samples/

[omegaomega]

Xinhua net is live streaming(in Chinese) Chang'e 6 sample return at Douyin: https://live.douyin.com/403447259997
Touch down is expected between 1:41PM and 2:11PM Beijing time.

Edit: Touch down time was 2:07PM Beijing time

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Xinhua net is live streaming(in Chinese) Chang'e 6 sample return at Douyin: https://live.douyin.com/403447259997
Touch down is expected between 1:41PM and 2:11PM Beijing time.

Also here: https://weibo.com/l/wblive/p/show/1022:2321325049113199903682

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Official English coverage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLmKmo5WmWg

[Galactic Penguin SST]

Touchdown has occurred at 06:07 UTC.

According to the call outs at MCC Beijing, the touch down point is 111° 24' 56" East,  42° 20' 28" North.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://youtu.be/Ec6wmoWrWl8

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://youtu.be/ky__Z0Z7oA0

[eeergo]

https://twitter.com/esaspaceflight/status/1805549820184064381

[Spiceman]

Just one question: does that capsule has the same shape as Soyuz / Shenzhou ? the "headlight" ?

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/chinas-far-side-moon-samples-grab-and-go-with-an-eye-on-the-future/

[Dalhousie]

Just one question: does that capsule has the same shape as Soyuz / Shenzhou ? the "headlight" ?

Very similar, just smaller.

[Spiceman]

Thank you. Can't help thinking the Soyuz headlight shape had already been "proofed" for lunar missions... by Zond, 55 years ago. 

[Galactic Penguin SST]

The sample canister has been removed after the descent capsule was flown back to Beijing earlier today.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://youtu.be/gRCMHwd0zQQ

[Dalhousie]

Do we have information on the returned mass and depth of core recovered yet?

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/far-side-samples-how-much-did-chinas-change-6-bring-back/

[Phil Stooke]

https://x.com/SegerYU/status/1806279693983007205

This tweet includes a link to a very interesting summary of the sampling process.  The drill only reached about 1 m deep again.

[Dalhousie]

https://x.com/SegerYU/status/1806279693983007205

This tweet includes a link to a very interesting summary of the sampling process.  The drill only reached about 1 m deep again.

IT's all Chinese to me....

[sandha]

https://x.com/SegerYU/status/1806279693983007205

This tweet includes a link to a very interesting summary of the sampling process.  The drill only reached about 1 m deep again.

IT's all Chinese to me....

Thiink as long as the text is displayed using one of the UTF encoding formats, you can just use any handy translation program to read it. For example, copy the text into a Google Translate window and translate it from Chinese (simplified) to Greek, and then from Greek to English (or anything else). So literally, it's all Greek to me.

[sandha]

Do we have information on the returned mass and depth of core recovered yet?

According to China's official news agency Xinhua, the mass of the sample returned by Chang'e 6 is 1,935.3 grams.

source: https://english.news.cn/20240628/4be0972f277c4b8eb3b0bf53e456052c/c.html

[Phil Stooke]

"IT's all Chinese to me...."

Fear not, fair Dalhousie, Prince Google gallopeth to save thee.

[Spiceman]

It is quite interesting to compare Chang'e 6 sample with the Soviet Lunas (Ye-8-5 & Ye-8-5M)

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19780057829

https://www.drewexmachina.com/2016/08/18/the-last-lunar-sample-return-mission/

Following the usual systems checks, Luna 24 set about drilling into the lunar surface 15 minutes after landing to secure its sample. Drilling down 2.35 meters at a slight angle, the drill was able to penetrate two meters below the lunar surface, extract the sample and place it into the return capsule.
 The initial inspection of the 170-gram sample at the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry (GEOKhI) in Moscow revealed gray brown soil with clearly visible layers which had been preserved as hoped by the new LB-09 drill.

Also there were plans to send Ye-8-5M to the farside, and also to work as a team with a Lunokhod taking samples here and there, bringing them back to the scooper for Earth return.

Somewhat like aircraft carriers, the chinese are picking up where the Soviets stopped - and then are doing better.

Thinking about it, the mass of lunar samples has just gone from Apollo & Luna combined 382 kg, to 384 kg.

[Steven Pietrobon]

Thinking about it, the mass of lunar samples has just gone from Apollo & Luna combined 382 kg, to 384 kg.

The total Soviet and Chinese Luna sample return mass is about 4 kg, so that would be 386 kg total.

Luna 16   0.101 kg
Luna 20   0.055 kg
Luna 24   0.170 kg
Chang'e 5 1.731 kg
Chang'e 6 1.935 kg
------------------
Total     3.992 kg

[Galactic Penguin SST]

https://x.com/CNSpaceflight/status/1806871243733557468

(the name means "Golden Toad")

https://x.com/CNSpaceflight/status/1806870751385141461

https://x.com/CNSpaceflight/status/1806756541141496053

[luhai167]

https://x.com/SegerYU/status/1806279693983007205

This tweet includes a link to a very interesting summary of the sampling process.  The drill only reached about 1 m deep again.

IT's all Chinese to me....

Basically both CE 5 and CE 6 is capable of drill to 2.5 meters and plan to drill to 2 meter.s yet in both they stopped at ~1 meter due to hitting hard material and the scientist decided not to risk it. In CE 5, resistance reached ~300 newton and they decided to probe a bit further, and once it it reached 500 Newtown, they decided to stop.

[starbase]

Chang'e 6 orbiter seems to move on to L2

https://twitter.com/mickeywzx/status/1806729795688136831

[edzieba]

https://x.com/SegerYU/status/1806279693983007205

This tweet includes a link to a very interesting summary of the sampling process.  The drill only reached about 1 m deep again.

IT's all Chinese to me....

Basically both CE 5 and CE 6 is capable of drill to 2.5 meters and plan to drill to 2 meter.s yet in both they stopped at ~1 meter due to hitting hard material and the scientist decided not to risk it. In CE 5, resistance reached ~300 newton and they decided to probe a bit further, and once it it reached 500 Newtown, they decided to stop.

I'll add that the encapsulation and retrieval system (a really neat self-inverting double-liner setup within the drill core) means the sampling system is one-shot. They can't grab a 1m deep sample and then try drilling deeper, the further core sample would not be retrievable anyway, and may jam inside the drill shaft in the absence of the liner (drill head ID < bore ID without liner). Running the drill with too much feed force also risks jacking up the lander by the drill shaft, which is also not desirable - being off-level affects the gravity-based sample handoff mechanisms, as well as return capsule launch angle.

[Dalhousie]

More on the min-rover carried by Chang'e 6

https://www.space.com/china-change-6-moon-far-side-minirover

[Phil Stooke]

Chang'e 6 was launched with a small satellite from Pakistan.  We saw a few early, distant images of the Moon from icube-Q, but has anyone seen anything else about it?  I have seen no indication that it survived past that initial imaging sequence and transmission. I hope it did and some more images will be released, but so far nothing.

[Dalhousie]

Chang'e 6 was launched with a small satellite from Pakistan.  We saw a few early, distant images of the Moon from icube-Q, but has anyone seen anything else about it?  I have seen no indication that it survived past that initial imaging sequence and transmission. I hope it did and some more images will be released, but so far nothing.

Wasn't it a cubesat, with only a few days life?

[Phil Stooke]

It was small but apparently not really a cubesat format.  It was supposed to have a longer life and take better images than those released apolune images.  But no word yet.

This site

https://www.ist.edu.pk/icube-q

says it had a design life of 3 months, and it had solar panels, not just a battery.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/cnsawatcher/status/1815273619020235124

[Video] Close-up look at Chang’e-6 Mini rover for pictures. Full HD:

https://youtu.be/mFiO7frgPUM

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/wulei2020/status/1837321788398915596

The Chinese engineering team that spent over a decade perfecting the Chang'e-6 probe say the pieces of moon it collected are “a gift to the world.” 🎁
Learn how this feat was achieved in the clip taken from “Back to the Far Side.”
#backtothefarside  #ChineseLunarExploration

[catdlr]

First study of Chang’e-6 samples from the far side of the Moon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5sYY1hoYn0

ep 22, 2024
The first study of the samples collected by the Chang’e-6 lunar mission (嫦娥六号) from the Apollo crater, located in the South Pole-Aitkin impact basin, on the far side of the Moon, was published on 16 September 2024 in the journal National Science Review.
Credit:
Nature of the lunar farside samples returned by the Chang’e-6 mission
Chunlai Li, Hao Hu, Meng-Fei Yang, Jianjun Liu, Qin Zhou, Xin Ren, Bin Liu, Dawei Liu,   Xingguo Zeng, Wei Zuo, Guangliang Zhang, Hongbo Zhang, Saihong Yang, Qiong Wang,   Xiangjin Deng, Xingye Gao, Yan Su, Weibin Wen, Ziyuan Ouyang
National Science Review, DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwae328
China Central Television (CCTV)

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/documentary-video-details-china-far-side-sample-mission/

[eeergo]

A slice of the lunar far side was showcased in CNSA's IAC 2024 booth in Milan this year, and a presentation was held to showcase it (although not so many details were shared)

[Blackstar]

They have a model on display at the IAC. It looks great. (Not my photo, I grabbed it off Twitter.)

[TheKutKu]

Chang'e 6 return capsule (the real one)
325kg, 1.26m diameter; 1.24m tall

[Phil Stooke]

Chang'e 6 was launched with a small satellite from Pakistan.  We saw a few early, distant images of the Moon from icube-Q, but has anyone seen anything else about it?  I have seen no indication that it survived past that initial imaging sequence and transmission. I hope it did and some more images will be released, but so far nothing.

An update: This website:

https://www.ist.edu.pk/icube-q

includes two 'monthly mission reports' in JPG format. The first is from 30 days after orbit insertion (8 June, though it is not dated), the second explicitly up to 8 July, 60 days after LOI.

Important points: the mission is said to have ended on July 1st. 17 images are said to have been transmitted (all in the first 30 days, no change in the second report). The first report mentions 85 MB downloaded, the second 130 MB. Only 2 small high altitude images have been released as far as I can tell.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://twitter.com/cnsawatcher/status/1872943381157990485

The video of the unfolding process of the solar wing taken by the Chang'e 6 monitoring camera. Full HD:

https://youtu.be/pj8G3G75yZA

[Phil Stooke]

https://m.weibo.cn/status/P6W3t2WGG

This link goes to a Weibo post with an image from the Chang'e 6 mobile camera which I have not seen before (plus a rendered view and an image of it on the lander).

Also learned from other posts: the rover did not survive long enough to view the ascender vehicle take-off.

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://youtu.be/-lNeLUfUu3o

[Steven Pietrobon]

Here's the Chinese version of the paper, which shows the Chang'e 6 results.

http://www.igg.cas.cn/xwzx/yjcg/202412/t20241219_7505159.html

[FutureSpaceTourist]

https://youtu.be/L_Bk-DDmFek

[Phil Stooke]

This shows the Chang'e 6 sampling sequence, based on video at the time and a new paper on the sampling process. Before the first, second and seventh sampling scoops, a surface contact was made with part of the sampling system (labelled C1, C2, C3), leaving a small impression in the surface. This served to calibrate the arm position relative to the surface, and to give an estimate of surface hardness to help plan the scoop depth.

[Blackstar]

https://www.leonarddavid.com/china-far-side-samples-new-moon-findings/

Geological clock
According to the study published in the journal Nature Astronomy, the research also revealed that the LHB impact flux followed a trend of gradual decay – “a fact which does not support the hypothesis of a sudden surge between 3.8 billion and 4 billion years ago,” reported China’s Central Television (CCTV).

[Blackstar]

Although this is one data point, and it needs to be confirmed, it is an important finding. One of the big questions we have about the solar system is something called the Late Heavy Bombardment. I won't get into it here (you can look it up), but the name tells you some stuff. The theory is that the inner solar system at some point was heavily bombarded with rocks. That is a key issue for when life may have formed on Earth (it's hard to form life when everything is blowing up). The Moon will have a record of that impact and when it occurred. That's one of the key science questions for American lunar scientists. So trying to get a better answer as to when this happened is a big deal.

[Satori]

China Focus: Chinese scientists decipher mystery of sticky soil on moon's far side.

Chinese scientists have unraveled the mystery behind the unusually cohesive lunar soil retrieved by China's Chang'e-6 mission from the far side of the moon.

[TheKutKu]

https://vxtwitter.com/SegerYU/status/1995768610376110103