Chang’e-6 heads to Earth with first-ever samples from the far side of the Moon


HELSINKI — China’s Chang’e-6 spacecraft is on its way to Earth to deliver samples collected from the far side of the Moon.

The Chang’e-6 service module likely started its engines for trans-Earth injection around June 21. The spacecraft is now on the final leg of its complex 53-day journey including a lunar landing, sampling, ascent and docking. A reentry capsule containing the unique samples will be released from the service module shortly before its arrival on Earth early June 25.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has not provided any updates on the maneuvers to get the spacecraft out of lunar orbit and back home. However, optical and amateur radio observations show that the Chang’e-6 spacecraft is heading towards Earth.

Observations and data shared by astronomer Bill Gray and others as well as radio tracking by individuals and groups, including Scott Tilley and AMSAT-DL, provide evidence of Chang’e-6’s activities.

Upon returning to Earth, the re-entry capsule is expected to land in Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia, during a half-hour window opening at 1:41 a.m. Eastern Time (05:41 UTC) on June 25. The information is consistent with airspace closure notices. . The CNSA has not openly published schedules of mission events in advance.

The re-entry capsule will first leave the atmosphere to kill some of the energy from a high-speed return to the Moon before re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.

The recovery of the samples will allow in-depth research into the composition and evolution of the far side of the Moon. The collected material could provide insight into why the near and far sides are so different, as well as clues to the history of early solar systems.

Mission Milestones

Chang’e-6 was launched atop a Long March 5 rocket from Wenchang on May 3, reaching lunar orbit just under five days later. Its lander-ascent vehicle combination landed at 41.6385°S, 206.0148°E in Apollo Crater, in the vast South Pole-Aitken basin, on June 1.

The mission’s ascent vehicle took off with up to 2,000 grams of material collected by an excavator and drill about 49 hours later. The ascender docked with the Chang’e-6 service module in lunar orbit on June 6. The mission sample container was autonomously transferred to the re-entry capsule after docking.

The ascender desorbed toward the moon a few days later, according to amateur radio tracking. The CNSA has not released a statement on the fate of the ascender, but it would fall in line with protocol for the 2020 Chang’e-5 mission.

The Queqiao-2 relay satellite facilitated mission operations on the far side of the Moon. The spacecraft, launched before Chang’e-6, allows communications with the far side of the Moon which, due to Earth’s gravity slowing the Moon’s rotation, never faces Earth.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated China on the mission’s progress after the ascender took off.

The head of the European Space Agency, Josef Aschbacher, also congratulated the CNSA. He also highlighted the successful collaboration between China and ESA on the Chang’e-6 mission.

This includes the successful collection of data by the Negative Ions on Lunar Surface (NILS) instrument and the support of the ESA ground station for the first phases of the mission and the return to Earth. However, cooperation between ESA and China in the lunar domain could come to an end.

Beyond Chang’e-6

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spotted the Chang’e 6 lander on the edge of an eroded crater within Apollo Crater. LRO photographed the lander on June 7, after the ascent vehicle launched the collected samples into lunar orbit.

This landing was only the second on the far side of the Moon. It follows the landing of the Chang’e-4 lander and rover mission of 2019. This mission, along with the near-side sample return of Chang’e-5, paved the way for Chang ‘e-6.

After releasing the reentry module, the Chang’e-6 service will likely fire its engines to avoid reentry. The spacecraft could then be sent on an extended mission, depending on propellant reserves. The Chang’e-5 orbiter visited the Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1 before returning to the Moon to test a distant retrograde orbit. Outside entities once again monitored Chang’e-5’s extensive activities.

China’s next lunar mission will be the Chang’e-7 multi-spacecraft in 2026. The Chang’e-8 in situ resource utilization and technology test mission will follow around 2028.

These are described as precursor missions to the China-led International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). Superheavy launches in the early 2030s will build the ILRS. A number of countries and organizations have joined the project.

Before that, China aims to send two astronauts to the lunar surface before 2030.

Milestone Description Date
Launch of Queqiao-2 Launch of a relay satellite to support Chang’e-6 March 19, 2024
Queqiao-2 lunar orbit insertion Queqiao-2 enters lunar orbit March 24
Launch of the CE-6 mission Chang’e-6 spacecraft launched May 3
Lunar orbit insertion Spacecraft enters lunar orbit May 8
Lunar landing Descent and landing on the moon June 1
Sampling, surface operations Collection of lunar soil and rock samples June 1-3
Ascent from the lunar surface Ascension vehicle launched from the Moon into lunar orbit June 3
Meeting and docking Ascension vehicle docks with orbiter in lunar orbit June 6
Trans-terrestrial injection Maneuver to send an orbiter towards Earth ~June 21
Re-entry and landing on Earth The return capsule reenters the Earth’s atmosphere and lands Expected June 25
Major milestones of the Chang’e-6 mission.





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