Chang'e 6 lifts off with samples collected from lunar far side
By: By Zhao Lei
BUZZ NOTE: There is a video with this article that, although I am able to open, I don't know how to attach to an article I post. It can be accessed by clicking on the SEEDED CONTENT link just below this message which will open the original source article - it is at the bottom of page 4. All it shows are 2 still photos, one of the lander doing its work, and the other of the Chinese flag.
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Chang'e 6 lifts off with samples collected from lunar far side
This image taken from video animation at Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) on June 4, 2024 shows the ascender of China's Chang'e-6 probe, carrying samples collected from the moon's far side, lifting off from lunar surface. The ascender has entered a preset orbit around the moon, said the China National Space Administration (CNSA). [Photo/Xinhua]
China's Chang'e 6 mission has completed the most important part of its lunar adventure as its sample-loaded ascender lifted off from the moon's far side on Tuesday morning.
According to the China National Space Administration, the ascender, one of the four major components of the Chang'e 6 robotic probe, started its ascent engine at 7:38 am and flew nearly 6 minutes before reaching a lunar orbit.
The mission has collected lunar samples in the past two days, and they are sealed inside a container on the ascender.
A photo taken by the Chang'e 6 lander [Photo/China National Space Administration]
The space administration said the ascender's return to lunar orbit marked the successful completion of the first sampling and liftoff operations on the moon's far side by any country.
The Chang'e 6 spacecraft, representing the world's first attempt to bring samples from the lunar far side back to Earth, was launched by a Long March 5 heavy-lift carrier rocket on May 3 from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province. It entered lunar orbit on May 8.
The 8.35-metric-ton probe consists of four major components — an orbiter, a lander, an ascender, and a reentry capsule.
This image taken from video animation at Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC) on June 4, 2024 shows the ascender of China's Chang'e-6 probe, carrying samples collected from the moon's far side, lifting off from lunar surface. The ascender has entered a preset orbit around the moon, said the China National Space Administration (CNSA). [Photo/Xinhua]
After a host of sophisticated maneuvers, the Chang'e 6 lander touched down on the far side on Sunday morning and soon started using a scoop to grab surface regolith and a drill for subsurface material.
At the same time, several mission payloads, including a panoramic camera, a lunar mineralogical spectrometer and a lunar soil composition analytical instrument, were activated for operation on the moon. The results of their survey will play significant roles in the measurement and study of the moon's landscapes, mineral compositions as well as shallow structures, according to the space administration.
A photo shows the lander-ascender combination [Photo/China National Space Administration]
Moreover, three European scientific apparatus carried by the Chang'e 6 landing craft — a radon-measuring instrument from France's national space agency, a dedicated negative ion instrument developed by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics with support from the European Space Agency, and a passive laser retroreflector from Italy's National Institute for Nuclear Physics — worked on the lunar surface over the past two days, said the space administration.
After the surface collection task finished, a Chinese national flag was unfolded on the lander, becoming the first national flag of any nation to be shown on the lunar far side.
An image provided by China National Space Administration shows a China's national flag is unfolded on the lander of Chang'e 6, becoming the first national flag of any nation to be shown on the lunar far side. [Photo/China National Space Administration]
In addition, a mini rover carrying a special camera was released from the lander and moved around the lander to take its pictures, according to the administration.
In the next stage, the ascender is set to remain in the lunar orbit for a certain period of time and then rendezvous and dock with the combination of orbiter and reentry capsule. It will transfer the sample container to the reentry capsule before departing.
In the final part of the 53-day mission, the combination will fly away from the lunar orbit and return to the Earth's orbit, where the pair will break up and the reentry capsule will conduct a host of complicated maneuvers to return to the Siziwang Banner Landing Site in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, according to the mission plan.
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By now it should be well known that I am unable to open certain sources, videos and pictures. If I cannot, I will ask that they be described and explained. If the poster refuses to comply, their comment will be deleted. Instagrams are banned.
Since the articles I post of non-political topics that I felt might be of general interest fare so poorly on this site I've decided to start posting articles that might get enough members pissed off enough to actually post nasty comments and keep the articles on the Front (Home) Page for more than a day or two.
I don't know about anyone else, but it doesn't upset me, and I'll give credit where it is due.
This was a major achievement.
Yes, so it was.
I have to laugh. Had this been accomplished by America there would probably be a bunch of backslapping comments and votes up on this article. But I'll bet that if there WAS a comment, it would probably just say that China steals American technology, which, by the way, would be awfully difficult in the case of China's space efforts since it has always been totally banned from NASA and anything to do with space, unlike America's best friends, the Russians, who share the International Space Station.
to actually post nasty comments
Nasty comments?
Well, I'm not going to post nasty comments.
(But it would be nice if more of your articles stayed on the front page.
)
Yes, it would be nice, but unlikely.
You've not noticed? However, you'd have to look fairly quickly because they often get deleted and earn their authors points.
Good for them, hopefully something beneficial is learned from both the mission and the samples
Yes, and China will most likely share its findings with the rest of the world, unlike others who are terrified about losing their status.